Taute in hotel scuffle

WP centre Jaco Taute has been disciplined by the union after an alcohol-induced incident in a Bloemfontein hotel.

The incident occurred after Province's 34-29 win over the Free State Cheetahs at the weekend, according to reports on the Netwerk24 website.

Taute is believed to have had too much to drink, before getting involved in an altercation with some of the hotel's guests and breaking a computer in the hotel lobby.

Howard Kahn, spokesperson of WP Rugby, said the matter was dealt with internally by the union.

'A disciplinary committee, consisting of the director of rugby [Gert Smal], the head coach [Allister Coetzee] and team management did a full investigation into the matter,' said Kahn. 'We don't take such things lightly and the player was heavily punished. All parties involved were apologised to and they accepted it.

'We are satisfied that the matter was properly dealt with and that it is completed.'

It is the third alcohol-influenced incident in the last year after Cheslin Kolbe was arrested  for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol in November 2013, while an as-yet unknown player was arrested following a similar incident in July this year.

Taute remains a doubt for Saturday's match against the Sharks, after suffering a rib injury during the match.

With Damian de Allende not involved because of Springbok commitments, Allister Coetzee might have to field an untested midfield combination for the match against the third-placed Sharks.

Photo: Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images