SANZAR won’t fine Ioane, Cooper over tweet

SANZAR chief executive Greg Peters says Queensland Reds players Digby Ioane and Quade Cooper won’t be sanctioned for tweeting their opinions on how long NSW centre Rob Horne should be suspended for a dangerous tackle.

Peters said Super Rugby players needed to be cautious about what they post on social media but, in SANZAR’s view, Ioane and Cooper did not break the code of conduct.

The governing body’s CEO said the tweets from the Queenslanders were in “a game context” and “didn’t cross the line.”

Ioane was embroiled in a twitter controversy last year when he tweeted “worst ref ever” after the Reds lost a close match in Wellington.

On Saturday night, he wrote that Horne’s lifting tackle on Melbourne star Kurtley Beale was worth six-eight weeks, while Cooper chipped in that he thought the incident deserved 10 weeks.

Things look ominous for Horne following the 30-21 win for the Waratahs after he was cited by SANZAR and told his yellow card fell into the red-card category.

Ioane is currently serving a five-week dangerous tackle ban of his own, with many in the game deeming that penalty to have been excessive.

Either way, SANZAR have made it clear they’re cracking down on that type of dangerous tackle.

Waratahs captain Benn Robinson said he thought the comments made by Ioane and Cooper, surprisingly about their Wallabies teammate Horne, could have landed them in strife.

“I think contractually those boys might get in a bit of trouble there,” Robinson told Triple M’s The Ruck.

“It’s not disappointing. It’s just a bit of a shock to me that those boys would jump on there straight away and make those comments.”

NSW coach Michael Foley said as far as he was concerned, the drama was “irrelevant” and the Waratahs were focused solely on getting Horne off at the judiciary.

“I think the comments on Twitter are irrelevant. We’ll work through the judicial process and we’re obviously underway with that at the moment and that’s the only thing that matters,” Foley said.

The Waratahs say they need another 24 hours to determine the extent of fullback Bernard Foley’s shoulder injury.

Foley didn’t return for the second half on Saturday night after he came off second best in an attempted tackle on Rebels winger Lachlan Mitchell.

“We won’t find out until tomorrow. He’s had scans and we’re just waiting for the results and the specialist’s opinion.

“He’s seen our medical staff this morning but we need another 24 hours before we can be more certain how that’s pulling up.

“He felt better on (Sunday) morning, which is positive.”

Michael Foley said if his namesake wasn’t fit to face the Crusaders this week, he would consider shifting playmaker Berrick Barnes back to No.15.

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