Waratahs prop Matt Dunning had his $3000 fine for an alcohol-related incident overturned and was instead issued with a caution by the NSW Rugby Union Appeals Tribunal.

Dunning, 27, had pleaded guilty to a breach of disciplinary protocols after damaging a taxi door in an incident outside a Sydney hotel earlier this month.

A NSWRU disciplinary committee found the damage to the taxi was accidental and fined him for breaking the Waratahs' alcohol policy.

The tribunal, made up of chairman John Gleeson, Phillip Purcell and Courtenay Poulden, said there was insufficient evidence to prove Dunning was guilty of public drunkenness.

Instead the tribunal found the prop was involved in an incident that attracted negative media and public attention, and while it fell within the Waratahs' disciplinary protocol, it was at the very lowest end of the scale.

Dunning was issued with a warning to avoid incidents likely to attract negative media and public attention in the future.

Previously Dunning had been fined $5000 for an alcohol-related matter in 2003 and $500 last year for staying out late in the week of a Test match in South Africa.

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