LONDON: Austin Healey has been fined a chunk of his Lions tour fee by a disciplinary tribunal convened to consider the Leicester halfback's journalistic indiscretions during the recent test series in Australia.
The tribunal, chaired by the Lions manager, Donal Lenihan, with the help of the coach, Graham Henry, andthe team captain, Martin Johnson, decided unanimously that Healey had been in breach of his tour contract and had brought the squad into disrepute by rubbishing the Wallaby lock Justin Harrison, in particular, and, some would say, Australia in general – in a "ghosted" column published in The Guardian on the eve of the third test in Sydney in July.
However, they also accepted Healey's insistence that the offending words had been penned by his amanuensis, the former Wales captain, now journalist, Eddie Butler.
Furthermore, the tribunal took Healey at his word when he stated that he did not agree with the sentiments attributed to him, and that he would have made changes had he been in a position to check the article before publication.
"The committee believes that he is the victim of a breach of trust by his ghost journalist and accepts his submission that he regrets the incident and intended no disrespect to the Lions or the tour management," said Lenihan after the two-and-a-half hour hearing.
"However, the incident was a serious one. The committee ruled that players have to take responsibility for the personal arrangements they make with the media, and for any statements published under a player's name. The content of the article was totally unacceptable. It embarrassed the Lions and those who had travelled to Australia to support the tour. It clearly brought the Lions into disrepute."
Lenihan refused to disclose the extent of the fine, but it was thought to be in the region of £2,500 ($NZ8,400) – half the financial penalty imposed on the Northampton halfback Matthew Dawson, who ripped into the Lions management in a self-written "tour diary" published on the morning of the opening Test in Brisbane.
Healey, who was accompanied by his agent, Jonathan Barnett, and the Leicester team manager, Dean Richards, was also ordered to pay his own costs.
He has a right of appeal and will weigh up his options over the next 48 hours.
