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Ex-Wallabies coach John Connolly is suing the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and its chief for 1.0 million US dollars over an email which he claims damaged his career, a report said Tuesday.
Connolly says ARU chief executive John O'Neill urged top officials to shun him after Australia's shock 2007 Rugby World Cup exit, and blames the email for his failure to land high-level work.
In the February 2008 message, O'Neill accused Connolly of spreading "evil and malicious propaganda", AAP news agency said, citing documents lodged at Brisbane's Supreme Court.
O'Neill was responding to what he called a "very inaccurate and hurtful" newspaper article which he suspected used Connolly as a source, the report said.
He told the officials to "reconsider" their contacts with Connolly, calling him "a person who adds no credit to the game", and asserting "his involvement in rugby is at an end from an ARU perspective", it said.
Connolly is seeking 350,000 Australian dollars (323,000 US) for alleged damage to his reputation, and another 750,000 dollars in special damages for his inability to find top coaching jobs.
He claims the email cost him the opportunity to return to the Queensland Reds, which he coached from 1989 to 2000, or be employed by a new Melbourne-based Super 15 team.
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