Chiefs in stripper drama
The New Zealand media reported that the Chiefs had hired a stripper on the same night that Michael Allardice admitted using a homophobic slur.
The Super Rugby franchise now find themselves under fire – following Allardice's comments at an end-of-season party and the revelation the team had also engaged the services of a stripper.
After the Chiefs lost 9-25 to the Hurricanes in last weekend's Super Rugby semifinals, the players hosted a get-together at the Okoroire hot pools, near Matamata, to mark the end of their campaign.
Chiefs boss Andrew Flexman confirmed investigations were still ongoing, but said he was "very disappointed" with the players' behaviour.
"I don't think it's a good look," Flexman told Fairfax.
"Clearly it's something as an organisation, it's not good, and it's not acceptable."
Flexman said management were not present when the stripper was performing and wouldn't have allowed the performance to take place had they known.
The stripper, who performs under the name Scarlette and did not want to use her real name for safety reasons, was booked to waitress for an hour and perform a strip routine.
She told Fairfax that the night turned sour when players behaved badly, including touching her despite her repeated warnings not to.
"I told them not to pull this stuff with me. It's not on," she said.
"It was a pack mentality."
Flexman, however, denied those allegations and said independent witnesses supported his players' accounts.
"You have got to remember this is one person's accusation and her standing in the community and culpability is not beyond reproach," Flexman said.
However, he admitted the players' actions in hiring a stripper were not up to the organisation's own standards.
When asked if hiring strippers was a common incident within rugby at professional level or within the culture of rugby elsewhere, including club level, he replied: "I don't know. I mean, I don't hear of it."
Flexman believed it remained to be seen whether the stripper incident would impact on the relationship the Super Rugby franchise had with sponsors.
The incident was especially disappointing for the Chiefs, after Allardice apologised for yelling "here come the gays".
Pools patron, Brendan Barraclough, complained about the slur and received an apology from both Flexman and Allardice.
In his apology for that incident Allardice said his behaviour "did not reflect the values of our team and organisation".
Sources: New Zealand Herald & Stuff
