Wallabies cancel Tuqiri's contract
Tuqiri's international career may be over after his contract was cancelled
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Wednesday, 01, Jul 2009 09:38
The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) have terminated the contract of winger Lote Tuqiri but are yet to release the full details about his sacking.
Tuqiri was Australia's only try scorer in the 2003 World Cup final which the Wallabies lost to England.
The New South Wales Waratah has made 69 appearances for the Australian national team since switching from rugby league in 2002, scoring 30 tries.
Tuqiri had a contract with the ARU through until 2012, and was reportedly one of their highest-paid players, but has slipped down the pecking order recently having been left out of the side for the Wallabies' last four Tests.
Although the ARU had been conducting an investigation into a possible breach of the players' code of conduct by the 29-year-old, there was no indication whether that was related to the termination of Tuqir's contract.
"The employment contract of Lote Tuqiri has been terminated effective today," an ARU statement said.
"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 is joint third on the all-time try scoring list for Australia, along with Joe Roff and Tim Horan. Only Chris Latham and David Campese have crossed the whitewash more times for the men in gold.