Sydney - The Australian Rugby Union said on Friday it was investigating media reports that Queensland Reds back Karmichael Hunt, a potential Wallabies bolter for this year's World Cup, had been charged with supplying cocaine.
Australian media reports said Hunt, 28, was one of four people given notice by Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission (QCCC) on Thursday to appear in court on charges relating to the supply of the drug.
“The Australian Rugby Union and Queensland Rugby Union are aware of reports regarding Karmichael Hunt,” the ARU said in a statement on Friday.
“The ARU's Integrity team and the Queensland Rugby Union are making enquiries into the reports. We'll be in a position to comment in more detail once those enquiries have progressed.”
A QCCC spokesman told Reuters he was unable to confirm that Hunt was the “28-year-old man from Hendra” to face “four counts of Supply Dangerous Drug”.
The four, the QCCC allege, “arranged for the supply of cocaine for personal use or to on-supply cocaine to friends and colleagues between June and December 2014”.
They will appear at a magistrates court in Southport on Queensland's Gold Coast on March 5.
One of the best known athletes in the country after his previous careers as a rugby league international and in the indigenous Australian Rules code, Hunt has played just one Super Rugby match since joining the Reds at the end of last year.
Weather permitting, he is scheduled to play at fullback against Western Force in Brisbane on Saturday.
The ARU will be keen to avoid any more negative publicity for the game after the protracted Kurtley Beale text messaging saga last year, which led to the resignation of Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie.
The rugby union career of Wendell Sailor, another code-hopper who played for the Wallabies at the 2003 World Cup, was effectively ended after he tested positive for cocaine in 2006 and was banned from the sport for two years. – Reuters