Australia fullback Mat Rogers has been fined an undisclosed amount for describing Sydney club rugby as a "waste of time" for Wallabies players.
Writing in a Sydney newspaper column earlier this month, Rogers said a Wallabies training session under coach Eddie Jones was more value to him than a club game for Southern Districts.
The fullback had said there were not enough quality players to sustain the club competition in its current form.
The 28-year-old appeared before a New South Wales Rugby Union three-man disciplinary committee on Tuesday night.
"I'm accepting the responsibility of what I wrote broke the protocols of New South Wales Rugby Union. I accept the punishment," Rogers told reporters after the hearing.
"It was never my intention to harm club rugby. I just really want club rugby to be better," he said.
"I just want it to rival what the rugby league has got and I know that it can and I look forward to seeing that happen in the future," added the former rugby league international, who has 19 caps for the Wallabies.
A New South Wales Rugby Union spokesman said Rogers had been handed a fine and a further suspended fine to be activated if there was a second breach of media protocol.
He has also been ordered to undertake club rugby development duties.
After his September 12 column in Sydney's Sun-Herald newspaper attracted criticism from former Wallaby winger David Campese, Rogers penned another article headlined: "Sorry Campo, but club rugby's a joke."
Rogers said in the September 19 article he would not back down on his views.
"Club rugby in its present state is a waste of time. I'm not some selfish rugby snob. It's just a fact," he said
Rogers suffered an ankle injury in March playing for Super 12 side the New South Wales Waratahs.
His return to club rugby was part of the fullback's preparations for Australia's November tour of Europe which includes tests against world champions England, Six Nations champions France and two matches against Scotland.
