Lote Tuqiri's days as a Wallaby and Waratah are over, after the Australian Rugby Union last night terminated his multi-million-dollar contract for unspecified reasons.
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UPDATE 10.28am Thursday: Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill told a press conference this morning that the ARU would be making no comment on the reasons for Tuqiri's dismissal as legal action was pending. He said Tuqiri knew the reasons and it was up to him if he wanted to discuss them publicly before any legal issues were resolved.
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The ARU provided only a minimum of detail as to why one of its highest-paid performers was no longer contracted, and would not confirm nor deny that it was because of a protocol or code of conduct breach.
When Tuqiri moved to the Australian rugby ranks from rugby league in 2003 it was to great fanfare, as it was an enormous coup for the code. He leaves it in bewildering circumstances after 67 Tests for the Wallabies, with his options at age 29 to play rugby overseas, return to rugby league or retire.
In a statement, the ARU said: "The employment contract of Lote Tuqiri has been terminated effective today. ARU has treated this issue as a standard employment matter. The ARU will not make any further comment on the matter as it may be the subject of legal proceedings."
Tuqiri, who spent part of yesterday attending his son's swimming lesson, will take legal action over the issue, with Mark O'Brien representing him.
There was a air of mystery last night over why Tuqiri had been sacked, with uncertainty over when, where and even whether he had been involved in an incident and, if he had, the extent of it. But it was well known that Tuqiri was on borrowed time with the ARU following previous code-of-conduct breaches, particularly in 2005 and 2007.
Tuqiri found himself labelled "Last Chance Lote" in 2007, shortly after John O'Neill took over from Gary Flowers as the ARU's chief executive officer, with the emphasis that another alcohol-related indiscretion could cost him his $5m contract.
Earlier that year, Flowers had signed Tuqiri to a five-year deal, worth $1m a season, until 2012.
However, O'Neill on his return to the ARU, appeared un-impressed with some of Tuqiri's indiscretions, the most notable being in 2005 when he and Wendell Sailor were fined and received two-match suspended sentences for being out late in a Cape Town nightclub.
Two years later, Tuqiri failed to attend a 10am Wallabies team medical, followed by a midnight curfew being imposed on him and Matt Dunning following an incident at their Brisbane team hotel. The players and several other people gathered in Dunning's hotel room until around 5.30am. A taxi driver was allegedly assaulted outside the hotel by a man who had been in the players' company.
After that, Tuqiri was made aware that any breach - no matter how minor - would put his contract in jeopardy. At the time, O'Neill told the Herald that Tuqiri was on his last chance and would have his ARU contract torn up if he was involved in any more transgressions.
"It was unacceptable behaviour … and they have been left in no doubt what the ramifications are if there is another offence."
Even on the field, it appeared Tuqiri's representative days were numbered. After an average season with the Waratahs, where he received few opportunities from a stuttering NSW back line, Tuqiri was overlooked for the first four matches by Wallabies coach Robbie Deans.
Although selected in the Wallabies squad, he could not make the 22-man line-up four weeks in a row. Tuqiri soon found himself relegated to fourth or fifth on the wing pecking order.
This confined Tuqiri to the Sydney club ranks, making him the most expensive and under-utilised winger in Australian rugby history.
