Tuqiri suspended for two matches

Tuqiri accepted he must take full responsibility for his actions

Lote Tuqiri will not play for Australia until the World Cup after he was suspended for two Tests for breaking their disciplinary rules over alcohol.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) said he missed a medical appointment and then a team recovery session on Monday.

Tuqiri, 27, said he had gone for a few drinks with team-mates on Sunday night and had misread his diary for Monday.

"It comes back to me, I take full responsibility, it should not be in someone else's hands," said Tuqiri.

The former rugby league international, who was also fined Aus$20,000 (£8,500), escaped with a suspended two-match ban after a drunken incident in Cape Town two years ago.

"The agreement that no off-field indiscretions were to occur for two years has been broken," said ARU chief executive John O'Neill.

"There is no alternative but to impose a two-match suspension beginning with this Saturday's Test."

The suspension means Tuqiri will miss this weekend's Tri-Nations Test against South Africa in Sydney and the 21 July encounter with New Zealand in Auckland.

He will be allowed to remain within the Wallaby camp but will not be able to play for Australia again until the World Cup, which starts in France in September.

It is not the first time Tuqiri has made headlines off the pitch in 2007.

The long drawn-out saga of whether or not he would return to rugby league or stay in union was finally resolved in March when he signed a new five-year deal with the ARU and NSW Waratahs.

Earlier that month he ran 30 metres to shove Waratahs team-mate Sam Norton-Knight in the back after Norton-Knight made the unsuccessful decision to take a quick tap penalty in the last minute of the 16-16 draw with Western Force.

In January, he was one of four players sent home from a World Cup training camp after they failed fitness tests.