THE HERALD REPORTS

Lots of old buildings, too, castles and museums and things. They say the open-topped bus trips are a good way to pass a few hours as well, although maybe not at this time of year. Even a walk round the Botanics can be nice. And there's always the pandas.

Yes, you're never stuck for excitement in Edinburgh. But as Australia's rugby players keek out from behind the curtains of their team hotel in the centre of the capital this morning and anticipate the pleasures of their one day off, they already know that a significant part of the city's rich smorgasbord of entertainment has been taken off the menu. To them, the dark delights of the howffs and watering holes of Edinburgh will remain a mystery - until the end of the week, at least.

On Monday it was confirmed Ewen McKenzie, the Australia coach, had dished out swift and severe punishments to 15 members of his 32-strong squad who six days earlier had decided that the best way to see Dublin was through the bottom of a glass. Six of them were banned from playing, with another nine given reprimands of varying degrees of severity. Refreshingly, and in stark contrast to rugby administrations elsewhere, the Wallabies management also fronted up about their actions, naming and shaming the sozzled miscreants in a terse and unambiguous statement.

Tour rules have now been changed in light of last week's shenanigans. Midweek drinking has been banned, all players are subject to a midnight curfew and the half-dozen who have been ruled out of playing will have to undergo extra training sessions. The squad can crack open a few tinnies on Saturday evening once the game against Scotland is behind them, but not before.

"I am not running social tours of Europe," said McKenzie. "We're here in a high-performance environment, we're trying to win Test matches. I'm not draconian and saying you can't drink forever. It's never been any different, you play Saturday, you can have a beer after the game, but then you get on with the job."

Separating an Australian from the amber nectar can be an action on a par with jumping on his Men At Work LPs, so McKenzie's reinvention of himself as the Crocodile Dundee of teetotalism was always going to raise a few eyebrows back home. However, the Australian players' union is more concerned by the summary nature of the justice that has been handed down and has reacted with thinly veiled anger to the punishments.

"There appear to be some inconsistencies with respect to compliance with these procedures and determinations," read a statement from the Rugby Union Players' Association. "RUPA will be making its own enquiries in order to assess whether the appropriate processes have occurred and that the rights and entitlements of the players concerned have been accommodated."

As admirable as that show of solidarity might be, there is a clear mood of contrition about the squad at the moment. At yesterday's media gathering at the Wallabies' team hotel, lock James Horwill and prop James Slipper, senior figures in the squad closing in on 50 caps each, both made it clear it was up to the players themselves to exercise the discipline and control that McKenzie has now been obliged to enforce.

Intriguingly, Horwill and Slipper both played under McKenzie at Queensland Reds, so they knew what was coming when the coach followed Robbie Deans into the national job a few months ago. Interestingly, of the six who are banned, only flanker Liam Gill is a Queenslander, a disproportionately light representation for a team that provides almost a third of the squad.

In the wake of Kurtley Beale going into rehab for alcohol problems and the termination of James O'Connor's contract after drink-fuelled escapades, questions are being asked of Australian rugby's apparent drinking culture. Asked, but not exactly answered in clear language by Horwill. "I don't think there is a problem," he said a little defensively. "Guys have made decisions and they are being judged on those decisions. The important thing from the team perspective is that we know where we stand now."

Slipper, however, was a little more revealing. The prop declined an invitation to join the festivities in Dublin last Tuesday, and it was easy to detect a note of irritation with those whose actions have tainted everyone around the squad.

"We're here for one thing only and that's to win games at the weekend," said Slipper. "Personally, I had my dinner and had trained very hard that day so sleep was the No.1 factor in my decision."

In the mid 1990s, Jim Telfer proposed that a Scotland tour to New Zealand should be alcohol free, but he was persuaded to abandon that stricture when a delegation of senior players warned him that they had to be allowed to relax. Horwill appeared to share that view.

"It is important that when you have successes you are able to celebrate," he said. "We don't want to turn guys into robots."

Of course not. They'd frighten the pandas for a start.

This article was posted on 20-Nov-2013, 12:59 by Hugh Barrow.