Beale and O’Connor ‘did nothing wrong’

The Australia Rugby Union insists Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor have not broken any protocols after the players were seen at a fast-food outlet in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Fly-half Beale and full-back O’Connor had been watching Tuesday’s game between the Melbourne Rebels and the Lions and later attended a post-match function involving both Australian and Lions players.

They were subsequently pictured with fans eating fast food in Melbourne city centre at 03:50am, but an ARU spokesman said thatfollowing an internal investigation, the players were judged to have “done nothing wrong”.

The spokesman said: “There has been a full and thorough investigation of the information. The two players were out last night, but they were not drinking – 10 witnesses we have spoken to corroborated that.”

Meanwhile, Melbourne Rebels wing Lachlan Mitchell has received a one-match ban for foul play during Tuesday’s game against the Lions. Mitchell was found guilty of lifting Lions wing Simon Zebo during a game the tourists won 35-0.