Wales halfback Mike Phillips has been indefinitely suspended from the Test set-up with immediate effect, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) said on Friday.

Phillips, 28, was suspended following an incident while he was on holiday ahead of Wales pre-World Cup training camp, a statement posted on the WRU website said.

"The player has been suspended due to a clear breach of the standards which we expect to be maintained by someone involved in one of our national squads," WRU chief executive Roger Lewis said.

"Discipline and acceptable behaviour are issues which run to the core values of the Welsh Rugby Union and we cannot tolerate any compromise of those standards.

"Mike Phillips is an exceptional player, but there is irrefutable evidence of a prima facie nature that he was engaged in behaviour which falls below the standards we set.

"It is vitally important that we send out a clear and unambiguous message to one and all concerning our views on matters of this sort."

Phillips, who recently joined French club Bayonne, has earned 52 caps for Wales since making his debut in 2003 and was also the British Lions first choice scrum-half on their 2009 tour of South Africa.

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