From the outset, the Kurtley Beale affair has been appallingly mishandled by rugby bosses in the search for truth behind the allegations.
Last night, Beale fronted an Australian Rugby Union tribunal after the star player was accused of improper conduct relating to text messages allegedly sent back in June.
The code of conduct hearing went ahead despite the ARU knowing several weeks ago that former business manager Di Patston's version of the text message exchange with Kurtley Beale was not correct.
Beale's management and legal team informed ARU CEO Bill Pulver that Beale had not sent the second photograph, and its abusive footnote, and that three crucial text messages had been omitted from Patston's evidence. They offered Beale's phone records and asked for a forensic IT expert to delve into Beale's phone to confirm what the records already indicated.
Until Thursday of this week, Pulver stubbornly refused to pursue Beale's claims.
He insisted Patston's version of events was correct and that he would not be acquiescing to Beale's request for forensic checks.
His handling of the biggest public relations crisis in rugby's recent history, which saw Pulver blame the media for everything, has raised questions about his leadership.
The ARU now knows that Patston fabricated parts of her CV to secure the ARU job. Although Pulver initially denied this, he has since admitted that Patston's actual qualifications did not fully match her CV.
Knowing already that Patston had not been entirely honest, Pulver nevertheless accepted the business manager's version of events with relation to Beale. He immediately held a media conference, exclaiming that Beale was now the subject of a serious misconduct case.
Pulver accepted Patston's story that Beale had sent two photo texts with lewd references. He also believed her when she claimed there were only six messages exchanged between the pair when there were in fact nine. The ARU subsequently leaked those six messages, again without matching them to Beale's phone records.
Pulver was also led to believe that Ewen McKenzie was not made aware of the incident in June when there is strong evidence the coach was told.
By Thursday the ARU case had unravelled and Pulver indicated to Beale's lawyers that he would potentially settle the matter without going to a tribunal if Beale's phone showed he did not send a second lewd text message to Patston.
He said that he had already established from an independent expert "that Ms Patston's statements and explanations did not add up". He added that he had "screamed for her phone to be produced" before she had resigned, but that it had failed to materialise. If he had double checked her story a month ago, the ARU's house of cards would not be teetering on collapse today.
The lawyer wrote in an email to Beale that Pulver "clearly gave me the impression that if there were no second text, the matter would settle and the ARU would apologise, consider paying costs and release details of what has occurred".
But an hour after the email was sent, Pulver instead insisted Beale front a tribunal with neither Patston nor McKenzie present, an astonishing set of circumstances given Beale's career hung in the balance.
IT experts went through Beale's phone late on Thursday and confirmed the second message was not sent from it. Only one single picture message was sent to Patston from Beale with the word Di underneath an image of an overweight, naked woman. Furthermore, Beale has consistently given the same version of events - that he had sent a single message and the matter was resolved in June - confirmed by a statement from new Wallabies coach Michael Cheika.
Beale and Cheika had a coffee in Sydney in June after the incident occurred during a Wallabies camp. Cheika said in the statement: "Kurtley told me he had a personal drama with McKenzie's personal assistant, Di. He said he had sorted it with the woman and that he had also had a discussion with Ewen McKenzie and he did not know if it had affected his selection in the team."
There is no doubt that Beale sent the initial text message. He has always admitted to it and was quick to speak to Patston back in June to apologise.
Beale also informed the then coach, Ewen McKenzie, back in June. The coach denied this but late last week, McKenzie was told the phone records did not match up and that Waratahs coach Michael Cheika had provided a written statement claiming Beale had told him he and McKenzie and Beale had discussed the photograph in June.
Last Saturday morning McKenzie resigned from the Wallabies top job, knowing the events of recent months had finally caught up with him. Neither he nor Patston has responded to media inquiries this week.
Events at head office have seen fundamental natural justice practices thrown out the window.
This is not the end of it. It is just the beginning.
