24 Aug 2011

ABs coach thinks tango in Paris will galvanise Wallabies

6:37 am on 24 August 2011

The All Blacks coach Graham Henry thinks the controversy surrounding the three young Wallabies backline stars will galvanise their side rather than derail their bid to end a 10-year Tri-Nations drought in Brisbane on Saturday night.

Following explosive allegations of a drunken fight in Paris last November involving close friends Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor, the players openly admitted yesterday there'd been a disagreement between them, but nothing sinister and the Australian Rugby Union found no grounds to take any action against them.

Beale was pictured with a black eye in the lead up to the Wallabies test win in Paris, but yesterday he and Quade Cooper flatly denied there'd been a physical altercation.

James O'Connor will sit out a one-match ban this weekend for missing last week's World Cup squad announcement, and he's been replaced by Anthony Faingaa.