SYDNEY, March 8, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Rugby Australia insisted Friday it has
seen no evidence of match-fixing and refuted claims that it launched a “top
secret” probe into a suspect Wallabies Test several years ago.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Friday that high-ranking sports
officials had “serious doubts” about the behaviour of at least three unnamed
Australian players in the game.
Citing one of the unnamed officials, it said the concern surrounded a match
Australia was strongly favoured to win, with the opposition at highly
attractive odds with several betting agencies.
It said the Wallabies lost following numerous unusual incidents, including
dubious forward passes, easy tackles being missed, confounding knock-ons and
easy midfield kicks going nowhere near their target.
The newspaper said the incidents prompted a “top-secret” investigation in
which team officials were questioned and an examination was made of any
unusual betting trends on the match.
It added that the concern were exacerbated by the “close links” between
several players and a controversial horse racing identity, and that the
officials wanted the issue re-examined.
“This issue has to again be looked into,” one official told the newspaper.
“Our suspicions were originally raised due to the very strange mistakes
made by usually reliable Australian players during that game. Some errors are
glaring,” the official was quoted as saying.
“It’s like watching Tiger Woods miss a two-inch putt, over and over again.
Very odd.”
But Rugby Australia dismissed the allegations.
“A headline attached to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald today
suggested Rugby Australia had investigated a Wallabies Test match ‘from
several years ago’ in relation to the possibility of match fixing,” it said
in a statement.
“Rugby Australia wishes to confirm it has seen no evidence in regards to
inappropriate betting activity or match-fixing and has no record of any such
investigation occurring in the past.
“Rugby Australia takes any allegation of match-fixing very seriously and
would always thoroughly investigate should any person or entity ever provide
information to the Integrity Unit,” it added.