New Zealand Rugby boss Steve Tew is surprised by a report alleging Australian police are considering the possibility the All Blacks bugged their own hotel room ahead of the Sydney Bledisloe Cup Test.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Tuesday that New South Wales police were still exploring several avenues as to who planted the device in a team room which was discovered in the week leading up to the August 20 Test.
But the All Blacks waited several days before reporting the incident to police, a decision coach Steve Hansen later conceded may well have compromised the investigation.
A police source told the newspaper they haven't ruled out any possibility and that a lot of people are still to be spoken to.
The source said criminal action would probably be taken if it could prove a member of the New Zealand squad had placed the device at the InterContinental Hotel in Double Bay.
"Given the attention the investigation requires, it can be a criminal offence, so if it got to that then absolutely we'd be looking at criminally pursuing it," the source said.
"It's just going to be really difficult to get to that point I'd say, that's the issue."
Tew was reluctant to voice a strong opinion on the subject while an investigation is ongoing.
"I'm surprised to read anything about this until the inquiry's finished but I guess that's what happens," he said.
"I'll be very surprised if there was any implication that we'd done it ourselves.
"But we'll let the NSW Police go through their job."
Tew said he hadn't been involved since the early stages of the investigation but said police might have been in touch since with All Blacks team manager Darren Shand.
The police source said CCTV footage had been obtained and had provided "solid developments".