Mathieu Bastareaud lied about Wellington attack

French rugby player Mathieu Bastareaud is unlikely to face charges for wasting police time after he admitted lying about being assaulted in Wellington last weekend, the head of the police inquiry says.

Bastareaud had told police he was attacked from behind by five men outside his hotel early on Sunday morning, leaving him with a serious eye injury requiring stitches.

He admitted overnight he had lied after drinking too much following his team's Saturday night loss to the All Blacks and had fallen in his hotel room, hitting his head on a table.

Inspector Pete Cowan told NZPA Bastareaud's version of events began to unravel around Tuesday after inquiries turned up a lack of evidence to support his story.

CCTV footage from the Holiday Inn showed him entering the hotel early on Sunday morning without injuries.

Mr Cowan said Wellington police yesterday asked the New Zealand Rugby Union to contact their French counterparts to discuss the incident further.

''We outlined clearly our findings which showed Mr Bastareaud's allegations were a pure fabrication and suggested that Mr Bastareaud reconsider his position.''

It was because of this police action that Bastareaud admitted he had lied, Mr Cowan told Radio New Zealand.

''Mr Bastareaud hasn't come out overnight and apologised out of the goodness of his heart. This has been a strategy from us and the New Zealand Rugby Football Union have been strong supporters and assisted us in this.''

Mr Cowan told NZPA he was ''very doubtful'' Bastareaud would face charges for wasting police time.

Bastareaud had not laid an official complaint, but his fabricated story had wasted ''an enormous amount of resources'', Mr Cowan said.

Seven or eight detectives in Wellington had worked on the case for the past week, with assistance from their Auckland counterparts, he said.

Mr Cowan had seen Bastareaud's apology, posted on his team's website, and was ''waiting to see what Mr Bastareaud came back with'' before deciding whether Bastareaud would be asked to pay costs for the wasted police time and resources.

Auckland barrister Kit Toogood QC said it was not worthwhile police pursuing Bastareaud for wasting their time.

Although no complaint had been laid, the police had done the right thing by treating the matter seriously once alerted to it.

''At a stretch you could argue that by making the allegation to management he knew police would get involved,'' Mr Toogood said.

''But the reality is he's out of our jurisdiction and there's no point police wasting more time trying to teach him a lesson he's learned already.

''The guy's completely discredited anyhow.''

Mr Cowan said CCTV footage showed Bastareaud had arrived back at his hotel at 5.22am on Sunday but didn't enter his room until 25 minutes later, and ''what happened in that 25 minutes is obviously open to a lot of speculation''.

ALL BLACKS COACH PHILOSOPHICAL

All Blacks coach Graham Henry was philosophical about the whole unfortunate affair.

"It's just young guys making bad decisions isn't it," said Henry's at today's captain's press conference at AMI Stadium in Christchurch. "In this case they made a very bad decision. These things happen whether you're a Frenchman, an Australian or a New Zealander from time to time with young people. They make bad decisions, and they've copped it."

Henry also felt it was not up to the All Blacks to point any fingers, despite the fact that they too had been duped by Bastareaud's false accusations.

"We've been in similar situations in the past where our guys have made decisions. It's a difficult situation, and I feel for French rugby people. There is some relief that it wasn't New Zealanders involved. But let's be honest about this, we're not all squeaky clean all the time.

"We hope our young guys do make good decisions most of the time. But sometimes they don't."

Bastareaud's Stade Francais teammate, Italy captain Sergio Parisse, who is in New Zealand for the test against the All Blacks tomorrow in Christchurch, supported the young man.

"When you are young you make mistakes, but I think Mathieu is going to be a very good player for France," Parisse said.

"Now he is (in) Paris and I've talked with the other guys in Paris and the president (of the club). All the team are very, very close to him."

CLEAR COLLUSION

Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast earlier said she believed the French rugby team and its management had colluded over Bastareaud's story.

''There was clearly collusion, there were other players involved, the team doctor's involved, the coach because [Bastareaud] got sent back [to France] so quickly. This is wider than just one player ...

''Other people knew. You can't just say 'this is one person, he should take the blame on his own'.''

When asked how she knew there were other people involved, Ms Prendergast said she had gained that understanding from media reports.

The New Zealand Rugby Union said it was outraged that Bastareaud fabricated the story.

NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said like many New Zealanders, he was disappointed that the player chose to make a false statement and cast a negative light on rugby, Wellington and New Zealand through his deception.

''Like all New Zealanders, I am extremely disappointed with this series of events and will be expressing that concern to the French Rugby Federation.''

Bastareaud admitted he fabricated the story in a statement on the website of his French club team, Stade Francais.

He said he had had too much to drink on Saturday night and fallen in his hotel room.

''I was ashamed and panicked and I thought I would be sent packing by the team management,'' the statement said.

''I told the original story because I thought it would be believed, but given the coverage it has subsequently received I thought it would be better to tell the truth.''

He apologised to the New Zealand Rugby Union, Wellington, and his team and coaching staff.

Bastareaud now faces disciplinary sanctions from the French Rugby Federation (FFR).

In a statement, its president Pierre Camou apologised to the people of New Zealand and the New Zealand Rugby Union, and said he had asked the FFR disciplinary committee to open an inquiry into the incident.

The French Embassy in Wellington declined to comment.

- NZPA and RugbyHeaven