Australia's World Cup campaign is in danger of being derailed by explosive allegations of a drunken fight between the Wallabies' three most exciting backline stars in Paris last November.
On the day the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) handed down an $A10,000 ($12,679) fine and one-match ban which will rub James O'Connor out of Saturday night's Tri-Nations decider against New Zealand, it is investigating a more damaging incident involving the 21-year-old.
According to the Nine Network, O'Connor and Wallabies playmaker Quade Cooper ganged up on close friend and teammate Kurtley Beale in a late-night scuffle in the lead-up to the season-ending test against France.
The reported fight did not seem to affect the Wallabies just days later at Stade Francais, when they thrashed the French 59-16 in their biggest win of the year.
The three star backs are normally inseparable but the timing of the allegations could not be worse for Robbie Deans' team.
This weekend's match at Suncorp Stadium presents Australia with a chance to end a 10-year Tri Nations drought, while the World Cup kicks off in less than three weeks.
The ARU began investigating the matter on the weekend following reports of an alcohol-fuelled Paris incident in the press.
A spokesman said all relevant parties had been questioned, but inquiries would continue today.
It is a massive disruption as Deans will name his 22-man team in the afternoon at their Brisbane hotel.
"We will not be discussing players by name," an ARU spokesman said.
"As we said yesterday, allegations of an incident in Paris last year were brought to our attention by the media. They have not been brought to us by a third party.
"There have been no complaints made and we have not ascertained there was police involvement.
"These allegations, which appear to be widespread throughout the media community, have come to us and we have made inquiries into these allegations and we continue to make inquiries."
The Nine Network also alleged Cooper and other players were on drinking bans following some misbehaviour at the start of the spring tour in Hong Kong.
O'Connor was on Monday stood down for a week for missing last Thursday morning's World Cup squad announcement and team photo following a night out drinking in Sydney.
