Driving ban for Powell after drunken golf buggy ride

Wales' Andy Powell (L) is tackled by Scotland's Hugh Lamont during their Six Nations rugby union match at the Milennium Stadium in Cardiff February 13, 2010.

LONDON (Reuters) - Wales flanker Andy Powell was banned from driving for 15 months and fined 1,000 pounds Tuesday for driving a golf buggy on a motorway slip road while over the drink-driving limit, the Press Association reported.

The 28-year-old British and Irish Lions player pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates' Court to driving a mechanically-propelled vehicle while unfit through drink. The incident took place the morning after Wales's remarkable 31-24 comeback win over Scotland in the Six Nations championship in Cardiff on February 13.

Powell was immediately dropped from the Wales squad for the remainder of the tournament.

"He is regretful that any young boy who may see him as a hero might think this behaviour is acceptable and he wants to make it plain that it isn't," Powell's lawyer Conrad Gadd told the court.

(Reporting by Mitch Phillips; Editing by John Mehaffey)