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SYDNEY - Wallabies bad boy Lote Tuqiri vowed to remain with rugby union after this year's World Cup, rubbishing reports he was poised to return to rugby league.
Tuqiri was reportedly hankering for a return to free-flowing rugby league and disgruntled at what he regarded as excessive punishment imposed by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) for a series of off-field indiscretions.
But Tuqiri said he intended to honour a five-year contract he signed this year estimated to be worth A$5 million ($5.83 million) and lashed out at unnamed figures he said were trying to drive him from the game.
"I don't see myself going anywhere, I'm going to stick this out, I've signed a contract and there may be forces out there trying to get rid of me but we'll just see what's going on and we'll go from there," Tuqiri said before the Australian World Cup squad set off for France.
"Certain people have agendas and things like that but I try to work in reality rather than perception."
The winger denied he was miffed at being slapped with a midnight curfew after a late-night drinking session at his hotel in Brisbane this month when one of the group he was with allegedly assaulted a taxi driver.
"You live by rules, this is just one of them that's come up," he said.
"No one's going to go out and party during the World Cup anyway, this is what we do and this is what we aim for every four years."
The curfew came after the ARU last month banned Tuqiri for two matches, including the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup decider, and fined him A$20,000 for not attending training and failing an alcohol breath test.
- AFP
