NZ-born Wallaby charged with burglary

Reuters

ACCUSED: New Zealand-born Wallaby Quade Cooper is charged with burglary.

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Quade Cooper was allegedly seen stealing personal property by a Surfers Paradise homeowner at 4am yesterday, leading to the arrest of the star Wallabies playmaker and subsequent charge of burglary.

Cooper is due to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on December 11.

The resident found an entrance to his property damaged by forced entry, and then allegedly witnessed Cooper rummaging through his home. Police said there was no altercation between the pair.

Officers were called to the address and soon found Cooper nearby, and he was taken to Southport watchhouse and charged in the afternoon. It is unclear what is alleged to have been stolen.

A police media spokeswoman said a 21-year-old man had been charged with one count of burglary of a residence.

Cooper, who recently returned from a breakthrough Wallaby tour, where he played all four tests in Australia's Grand Slam quest, has previously been fined by the ARU over a food fight in a team camp in Canberra in June.

His form was one of the few bright spots on an inconsistent Wallabies tour and he was praised for finding a new level of maturity in his game as he replaced the injured Berrick Barnes at inside centre.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU), to which Cooper is contracted along with the Queensland Rugby Union (QRU), remains reluctant to go into details.

"We are still looking to receive the full facts of the issue," an ARU spokesman said.

"It's a matter before the courts so at this stage we can't make any further comment."

Cooper is currently on holidays and was scheduled to return to pre-season training with Super 14 side the Reds in January.

ARU and QRU officials are likely to await the outcome of Friday's court appearance before jointly deciding on any action against Cooper, such as standing him down.

ARU boss John O'Neill has previously taken a dim view of player misbehaviour.

He rubber-stamped the sacking of Western Force halfback Matt Henjak in February last year after he was involved in a fight with a team-mate.

And Mr O'Neill tore up the contract of Wallaby winger Lote Tuqiri this year for reasons both refused to disclose.

Asked if Cooper could be stood down, a QRU spokesman replied: "We've got to establish the full facts of the matter before we can decide what action, if any, will be taken."

New Zealand-born Cooper made his Test debut against Italy in 2008 and has so far played 11 Tests for Australia.

-with AAP

- © Fairfax NZ News