KEY POINTS:
It was three strikes for troubled halfback Jimmy Cowan today but he remains an All Black - under the tightest alcohol rein.
If Cowan is found to have consumed alcohol between now and December his New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) contract will be terminated after an NZRU hearing today found him guilty of serious misconduct.
Cowan, 26, was today charged by police for an incident in Dunedin on April 5, his third recent charge of disorderly behaviour. The other incidents took place in Dunedin and Invercargill.
He is expected to appear in Wellington District Court tomorrow on the third charge. He is also due in Invercargill District Court to face a charge over Sunday's incident. It was unclear tonight whether he would travel to Invercargill or whether his appearance would be excused.
Cowan will keep his place as an All Blacks reserve for Saturday's Tri-Nations test against South Africa here but was fined $3000 and asked to seek alcohol counselling.
Periodic reviews will take place to ensure he is adhering to the alcohol ban and manager Darren Shand hasn't ruled out breathalyser tests.
The ban runs across the period of his NZRU contract which covers his time with the All Blacks, Highlanders and Southland. Only four "leave" weeks in December fall outside his employment contract.
Cowan cut a contrite figure after his 3-1/2 hour hearing today with his manager Tom Downey, Shand and NZRU general manager of professional rugby Neil Sorenson.
The 11-test veteran from Mataura made it clear he would adhere to the conditions imposed on him.
"I'm very fortunate to be given another chance. This is my problem and nobody else's and I'm taking steps to fix it," said Cowan, who thanked his teammates, management, family and friends for their support.
Shand wouldn't say if a termination of Cowan's contract had been considered.
"We're not going to cast him aside and leave him to sit and wallow in pity about this," he said.
"There was a common denominator here, which is his ability to cope with alcohol and we felt it was important to deal with that problem.
"When he's assembled with the All Blacks he does things right, he makes good decisions. Outside of this he's been making some bad decisions.
"We want to put some boundaries around this, it's very final.
"Jimmy's accepted the seriousness of the recent issues and I think he's genuinely remorseful."
Shand said the NZRU had to be careful not to prejudice Cowan's rights as a citizen with respect to the legal process.
However, his persistent offending warranted immediate action, even before he went before the court and the NZRU reserved the right to take further action should any new issues arise during the court process.
All Blacks No 8 Jerome Kaino was charged last week with an alcohol-related driving offence but Shand denied there was a drinking problem within the All Blacks.
There had been a "quantum leap" in the drinking culture since he was first involved in professional rugby a decade ago.
"It's something we've spent more time on than any year I can recall," he said.
"It's something the players themselves are starting to get frustrated with, the senior players. To the point where they've addressed the group and finger-pointed players and said they've had an absolute gutsful of it.
"This group is committed to working on it, making it better and finding ways to prevent these sort of incidents occurring because they do irreparable damage to the team and everyone's reputation."
It was notable that the All Blacks' sponsorship signage that acts as a backdrop at press conferences was removed from behind Shand today.
He admitted the Cowan issue was a bad look for a sport that was seeking to win back public favour.
"The game's in a bad enough state as it is in this country and we had to be proactive here so we had to make a decision as his employer to get on and resolve this.
"We've got a lot of partners that support us and any incident like this unacceptable.
"It's disappointing. We work hard with those people (sponsors) to deliver value to them."
All Blacks coach Graham Henry described Cowan's behaviour as annoying, disappointing and disruptive.
Speaking before today's hearing, Henry said it was important to support Cowan and to continue educating all players about off-field standards.
"More and more this team emphasises those sorts of things and we're doing our level best to try and ensure that our environment is the best it can be," Henry said.
"We've got young men who sometimes don't make the right decisions and perhaps they've got personal problems that need to be dealt with."
- NZPA