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Latest arrest could kill Cowan’s All Black career
30th June 2008, 14:00 WST
Jimmy Cowan’s place in the All Blacks rugby team is in jeopardy after his second arrest within seven weeks for his off-field behaviour.
The Highlanders halfback will appear before a New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) misconduct hearing in Wellington tomorrow.
Possible sanctions range from a warning to dismissal from the All Blacks squad, who are preparing for the opening Tri-Nations test of the season against South Africa here on Saturday.
“He’s very nervous for his future,” All Blacks manager Darren Shand said today.
Cowan, 26, who has played 10 Tests since his debut in 2004, was arrested in Invercargill early yesterday and charged with disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence.
Shand said no one was hurt in the incident and no property was damaged.
Cowan’s legal representative is to appear on his behalf in the Invercargill District Court tomorrow.
Cowan is also presently on remand following an incident last month in Dunedin.
He was charged with disorderly conduct for an incident on May 10 and was remanded for diversion until August.
“We are very concerned about the off-field behaviour at the weekend involving Jimmy,” Shand said.
“Clearly there is a pattern of behaviour that indicates he doesn’t make good decisions when he has been drinking.”
Asked whether Cowan had problems with alcohol, Shand said: “Clearly his action would suggest he does”.
Shand said under normal circumstances team management would wait for the courts to decide a player’s fate before they looked to resolve an issue.
“Given this is Jimmy’s second incident in a very short space of time we want to act now and resolve it.
“We feel it is in the interests of both parties to get this resolved now.”
Cowan was reportedly arrested about 4am yesterday and spent several hours in custody.
He was released later in the day in time to catch a flight to Wellington to join his All Blacks teammates.
Shand said All Blacks management was particularly disappointed with the latest incident because of the extra efforts the team had made to improve their public image.
“Given last year’s World Cup results we’ve worked really hard to win back the fans.
“It’s doubly frustrating to me and the rest of the management team that an incident like this creates enormous damage to what we’re trying to do.
“We put in extra effort around off-field behaviour this year and clearly we still haven’t got it right.
“We realise they’re more in the spotlight than they were previously. Week to week it’s a topic we front the team on.”
Shand said he spoke to Cowan about the latest incident yesterday and he expected a decision on the player’s future to be made after the hearing tomorrow afternoon.
“We know he was arrested early on Sunday morning and that he was charged with disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence. We also know no one was hurt and no property was damaged.
“The rest of the events will be put before us tomorrow.”
Cowan has fallen foul of the NZRU judiciary process before.
In 2005, the NZRU suspended him for a week when he was sent home early from a Junior All Blacks tour of Australia after an incident in a bar.
WELLINGTON
NZPA
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