This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Western Force fullback Dane Haylett-Petty has apologised to his team-mates and the public for urinating in a Bloemfontein hotel hallway last week.

Both Pek Cowan and Haylett-Petty were fined $5,000 and served with breach notices by the ARU after it was deemed they broke the Australian Rugby player code of conduct following the 30-29 loss to the Cheetahs on 2 July.

Waratahs suffer key loss, Crusaders absolutely thump Rebels Read more

Cowan went into the bad books for gaining unauthorised access to a team vehicle after the 1am curfew last Sunday. A drunken Haylett-Petty urinated in the hallway of the team’s Bloemfontein hotel after being locked out of his room.

The 27-year-old was also involved in a heated play fight with his brother in which a vase was broken. Haylett-Petty paid for the broken vase and apologised to hotel management for the urinating incident the next day.

The Wallabies’ newcomer put in a strong performance during Saturday night’s 22-3 loss to the Stormers in Perth, and he made an on-field apology after the match.

“I was very disappointed with the way I acted and let the team down,” Haylett-Petty told Fox Sports. “I’m really looking forward to trying to make up for it. Hopefully my actions speak louder than my words.”

Interim coach Dave Wessels revealed Haylett-Petty also fronted his team-mates during the week to apologise.

“I’ve been lucky enough to know Dane for a very long time, and Pek as well. And they’re both outstanding human beings,” Wessels said. “Dane in particular has been very embarrassed and very apologetic all week.

“For him, it’s just a one-off mistake. It’s important people understand it’s certainly not a trend. Dane is a very special part of this team.”

Winger Luke Morahan, who captained the Force against the Stormers after Cowan was stripped of his leadership duties, said the players have forgiven both Cowan and Haylett-Petty.

“They apologised and we accepted that, and we moved on pretty quickly as a group.” Morahan said.

Force chief executive Mark Sinderberry described the actions of Cowan and Haylett-Petty as “out of character”.

The off-field misbehaviour comes just a month after the ARU formed an alliance with the Force in a bid to save the struggling Perth-based franchise from going under.

Force coach Michael Foley was sacked soon after the alliance was formed because of the team’s poor run of results. The Force (2-12) sit last in the Australian conference, but they’re aiming to finish their season on a high when they take on the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday night.