Australia vs New Zealand: Rugby Championship hit by 'bugging' scandal after All Blacks discover listening device

A police investigation has been launched after a listening device was found in the All Blacks' hotel meeting room

Police officers leave a hotel, where the New Zealand rugby team are staying ahead of their match against Australia (EPA)

The first Bledisloe Cup match of the Rugby Championship between New Zealand and Australia has been overshadowed by a bugging scandal after a listening device was found in the All Blacks’ meeting room, days before their encounter in Sydney.

The New Zealand Herald broke the news on the morning of the first Test between the two sides as the Rugby Championship gets underway, with a “sophisticated” listening device found under a chair in the hotel room where the reigning world champions had held meetings in the lead-up to the match.

A police investigation has been launched into the discovery, with New Zealand Rugby [NZRU] chief executive Steve Tew confirming that both Australian police and the Australian Rugby Union [ARU] had been informed.

"We are taking this issue very seriously, and given it will be a police matter, it would not be prudent to go into further details,” Tew said on Saturday morning.

New South Wales Police Force issued a short statement to confirm that they were investigating the allegation, and officers had attended a hotel in the Double Bay area of Sydney where the All Blacks were staying ahead of Saturday’s match at the ANZ National Stadium.

New Zealand Rugby Union CEO Steve Tew speaks to the media outside a hotel in Sydney (EPA)

Police are also investigating why it took so long for the device’s discovery to be reported, given that it was found during a routine security check on Monday but not reported to authorities until Saturday – the same day as the match.

Superintendent Brad Hodder told local reporters: "Any delay in any investigation's always tough but we'll look at that information.

"We will be looking at all the avenues and what part of the legislation it comes under, in particular ... we'll look at telecommunications offences and the Devices Listening Act.”

I just think it's a ludicrous concept that there are listening devices being placed in team rooms. I don't know how that could happen

&#13; <p>Bill Pulver, ARU chief executive</p>&#13;

The head of the ARU, Bill Pulver, told the New Zealand Herald that any claims made against the Wallabies of bugging were “ludicrous” and denied any involvement from the Australian team.

"Mate, of course [the ARU is not involved],” Pulver said.

"I just think it's a ludicrous concept that there are listening devices being placed in team rooms. I don't know how that could happen."

The InterContinental Hotel has also started its own investigation into the incident, with the device described as “a highly skilled and meticulous act and whoever put it there would have needed a significant amount of time to have pulled off such an accomplished job".

The All Blacks have not lost the Bledisloe Cup in 13 years and with Saturday’s match the only one of the three clashes between the Tasman rivals to take place on Australian soil, a fiery atmosphere is almost a guarantee.

Australia are bidding to retain the Rugby Championship that they won last year in a shortened format due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, with South Africa and Argentina meeting in Saturday’s other match.