Much ado about nothing

RUMOURS OF a fracas in Paris last year involving Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor have been kicked into touch.

Cooper and Beale fronted media after speculation that they and O’Connor had been involved in a boozy bar incident that became physical on last year’s end of season tour prior to the 59-16 win over France.

While the pair admitted there had been a disagreement, they say things did not become heated.

“We're here to squash the rumours there was an incident between us and James O'Connor on the tour,” says Cooper.

“We, as you can see, are best of mates.

“There are always going to be disagreements and stuff like that but in terms of anything sinister ... nothing has gone on."

Beale, who had a noticeable black eye during the crushing win over France, was singing from the same song sheet, denying anything sinister happened.

“We are good mates. You are always going to come eye-to-eye at some stage. We got over it. We had a good win against France on that weekend ... nothing to it.”

When the question was asked whether it was a case of boys being boys or something more serious, Cooper responded: “Boys being boys. We're here to squash it and get it over with.

“We've got a massive game this weekend (against the All Blacks) and the World Cup. We are not going to let anyone divert our attention away from the job at hand.”

The Australian Rugby Union took no action following an investigation into the alleged incident, claiming that a simple disagreement was all that had taken place.

O’Connor was not at training for Saturday night's Tri Nations decider against the All Blacks at Suncorp Stadium after being banned for one test on Monday for inexplicably missing two team functions last Thursday in Sydney.