"It's been dealt with within the courts. He's a free man and not charged, it speaks for itself."
Last year Li, 19, pleaded guilty to driving with a blood-alcohol reading of 45mg. The legal limit for under 20s is zero. Team-mate Moala was found guilty of assault a fortnight ago over an incident in a nightclub in December 2012. Blues chief executive Michael Redman said last week that Moala was free to train, play and travel with the team until his sentencing date.
Mr Redman said: "With sentencing yet to occur, the appropriate thing to do is to have George return to the team."
Questioned about the public reaction, Mr Redman said: "First and foremost, the public would expect us to be even-handed with this, to be a good employer, to take the matter seriously, and obviously we have. We don't have any tolerance for any offending, but at the same time we have to follow due process."
University of Auckland law professor Bill Hodge said a pattern emerging of rugby stars being discharged without conviction was "uncomfortable" for him to see.
Professor Hodge said people might be tiring of seeing similar responses from judges when rugby stars appear before the courts.
"People might be getting a bit tired of them saying 'you're an All Black or a future All Black, so we'll give you a discharge without conviction'.
"We have a legal system where we expect whether you're a builder or a mechanic or a professional rugby player you'd be treated the same in the courts." However, he said he thought the judge in Li's case made the right decision given the "fantastic job" his lawyer did in the courtroom.
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