Powell dropped over golf buggy incident

Andy Powell will play no further part in Wales’ Six Nations campaign. Photo / Getty Images

CARDIFF - Wales dropped Andy Powell from its Six Nations squad today following his arrest for driving a golf buggy to a service station while under the influence of alcohol.

Powell will appear at Cardiff Magistrates' Court on March 2 on a charge of drink-driving following his arrest early yesterday but the Welsh Rugby Union has already punished the British and Irish Lions forward.

Powell was arrested the day after helping his team beat Scotland 31-24 for its first win in this season's tournament.

"Andy knows he has misbehaved and is apologetic, but he also knows that he must take responsibility for his own actions and accept the repercussions," Wales team manager Alan Phillips said. "This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated in a professional, elite sporting environment and we have acted quickly and incisively in order to leave no ambiguity over the dim view we take of this situation."

The WRU said it did not plan to replace Powell in its tournament squad because the inclusion of hooker Ken Owens as cover for the injured Matthew Rees and Gareth Williams meant it still had the standard 35 players.

The 28-year-old Powell will now play no part in February 26 match against France, nor subsequent games against Italy and Ireland.

Powell's agent, Mike Burton, told BBC Radio 5 that Powell had gone to bed after celebrating Sunday's (NZT) dramatic 31-24 win over Scotland.

"Andy got up at 6.30am (local time)" Burton said. "About 7am, he went down for breakfast where the facilities were not ready so they said `why don't we go down to the motorway services where we can get something there?'

"They walked out of the reception area, there was a golf buggy there and they used that to get to the services where the police asked them how they got there."

Burton said that the player had not realised he was still over the alcohol limit the morning after the game and was "very sorry and embarrassed about what happened."

The WRU said it had asked Powell to apologise to the resort where the team had been staying in addition to his earlier apologies to team management and the Welsh public.

- AP