Australia flyhalf Elton Flatley apologised today for skipping a practice session that cost him his place in the Wallabies team to play England this weekend.
Flatley was dropped from the side for disciplinary reasons after failing to attend training on Sunday morning.
He told the team management he slept in after celebrating Australia's 30-10 victory over Wales in Sydney the previous night.
"I have no-one to blame but myself and I am truly sorry," Flatley told reporters. "I'm not happy with how I conducted myself . . . but I will learn from that and it shouldn't happen again.
Wallabies captain George Gregan said Flatley left the Australian management with no choice other than to drop him, saying all the players were aware of their responsibilities and had to abide by the rules.
"The team has pretty high standards on and off the field and he fell outside of those," Gregan said. "Everyone's aware of what it entails to be part of this team . . . so if you fall outside of it, it's pretty black and white".
Not only was Flatley deputising for Australia's regular flyhalf Stephen Larkham, who is injured, he was also responsible for goal kicking.
The Wallabies now face the prospect of going into Saturday's match without a specialist goalkicker or flyhalf, with either inside centre Nathan Grey or fullback/winger Joe Roff likely to switch positions and wear the number 10 shirt.