Two Western Force players have been stood down for reportedly drinking "one to two glasses of wine" on a flight from Melbourne to Perth.
As first revealed by The Daily Telegraph, hooker Andrew Ready and winger Byron Ralston will not feature in Friday evening's Super Rugby Pacific match against the Queensland Reds after drinking alcohol on a four-hour flight last weekend.
Veteran prop Greg Holmes is also expected to be penalised, but will not be stood down for the Round 3 fixture due to the team's lack of tighthead options, according to the News Corp report.
Matt Hodgson, the Force's general manager of rugby, revealed that the team's senior leadership group led the decision to suspend Ready and Ralston, who will be replaced by hooker Jack Winchester and 21-year-old Grason Makara.
"They weren't drunk or intoxicated on the plane, they each had one to two glasses of wine with their meals, but this was a player-led decision and it was determined that because we were wearing Force uniforms and with the short turnaround between games they shouldn't have been drinking," Hodgson told The Daily Telegraph.