All Blacks winger Mark Telea has been dropped for disciplinary reasons, rather than injury, for this weekend's Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Ireland at Paris.
Telea, 26, has been replaced by Leicester Fainga'anuku in the No.11 jersey for Sunday's (NZ time) must-win clash, as New Zealand look to make the semi-final of this year's tournament.
Newshub understands Telea breached team protocol during the week and was pictured training unhindered on Tuesday local time, without any injury worries.
When pressed on Telea's unavailability by Newshub, All Blacks coach Ian Foster has conceded the non-selection was for disciplinary reasons.
"He breached protocol," said Foster. "It's nothing major, but enough to keep him out of selection for this week.
"We still love him, he's trained well. It happens.
"It is what it is. For us, it's pretty clean cut, I don't want to talk about it anymore.
"We've dealt with it as a team and moved on."
So far, Telea had been the first-choice left winger for the All Blacks, starting in what was considered the top team for the opening defeat to France and poolstage victory over Italy.
In an otherwise poor team showing against the hosts, Telea scored two tries and continued that form with another try against Italy, as the All Blacks ran out 96-17 victors, but performances on the field will have to take a backseat for Telea, who will now watch Sunday's clash from the stands, as punishment for his actions.
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