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Wellington - Several Hurricanes players face disciplinary action after breaching team protocols before their thrashing by the Sharks in South Africa last weekend, the Super Rugby club confirmed on Wednesday.
Media reports in New Zealand said up to five players could be sidelined from this Saturday's match against the Reds.
A brief team statement said a small group of players "breached team protocol while the squad were in South Africa".
"The matter has been dealt with internally and Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd will be happy to discuss it further at (Thursday's) scheduled media session once the team to play the Reds in Wellington on Saturday has been named."
Hurricanes assistant coach Jason Holland told Radio Sport the players "broke a curfew" but he would not identify those involved.
"We'll wait until we see where we are before we talk about who it is. If (dropping players) is the decision we come to it will be pretty obvious," Holland said.
"We set pretty high standards around our protocols and if there are any little minor discretions there will be consequences."
The Hurricanes, who two weeks ago beat top side Golden Lions 50-17, were beaten by the Sharks 32-15 and slipped from third to fourth in the New Zealand conference.
At a team meeting in Wellington captain Dane Coles was reluctant to discuss the incident before the side to play the Reds was finalised.
"We'll wait until the team's named. We'll be able to answer some questions from there," Coles said.
