Editorial: Sports, alcohol don't mix

Aaron Cruden. Photo / Brett Phibbs

It wasn't that long ago I wrote about New Zealand's sports stars and their problems with booze.

At the time All Blacks Cory Jane and Israel Dagg were in the news, and it wasn't necessarily because of booze. They had been belatedly accused of mixing sleeping pills and energy drinks during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Jane and Dagg were spotted acting curiously at a bar only a few days before New Zealand's quarter-final against Argentina. It was alleged this year they might have indulged in mixing the pills with energy drinks in a bid to create a legal high.

New Zealand rugby boss Steve Tew also said the pair were drinking at the time.

Now it's their teammate Aaron Cruden who's in the firing line.

The first five-eighths made front page headlines this week after missing the All Blacks' flight to South America because of what has been reported as a boozy night out. He has been stood down for the rest of the Rugby Championship.

Given our ongoing issues with the pivotal first-five position - World Cup final, anyone? - New Zealand rugby cannot afford for one of our most important players to be out of action for such a ridiculous reason.

You could argue that such indiscretions haven't hurt the careers of Jane or Dagg, but Cruden's time-out will clearly give his rivals for the position a good boost up the pecking order. And you can't argue that booze issues didn't have an adverse effect on Zac Guildford's New Zealand rugby career.

Despite this hiccup, Cruden, 25, is still young (Dan Carter, by the way, is 32) and hopefully has a long career as our No1 first-five ahead of him.

It's also likely this won't be the last time we hear about All Blacks and drinking issues.

At which point you have to ask, what is being done at a management level? And why is there a team culture that allows for binge drinking during major tournaments?