the_nines says...

Compare Coopers high tackle to Elstadt's similar one in the Stormers Rebels game. Only a penalty and no "white card" or yellow for that matter. Has the in game white card completely removed any other offences being cited after the game? If this was cited you would expect he would get at least a week, putting further strain on an already strained Stormers backrow.

Posted 15:30 16th July 2012

smarty says...

If they want to penalise the reds for Cooper's foul they should allow him to play :)

Posted 14:59 16th July 2012

Trinats2 says...

tha_mai:

shows your level of knowledge, Cooperman has the ball, why would he be tackling ???

Posted 14:14 16th July 2012

tha_mai says...

I like the pic with this article - QC says - 'does this count as a tackle?'

Posted 13:25 16th July 2012

backnforward says...

"It is also a matter of significance that the SANZAR Rules allow consideration be given to the importance of games to be played during the Super Rugby Finals Series and as such, this has been taken into account as a mitigating circumstance..."

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha that is almost as farcical as the NH disciplinary process. I'm guessing that, had QC broken BBs neck, that might have warranted a 4 week ban suspended until there are no important matches, either club or international, or until after QC retires??!??!?

Posted 12:02 16th July 2012

meneer says...

Hey Kurtley me old mate, got a week off fancy a few tinnies and watch the game? maybe we can HIT town after, what do you say mate?

Posted 11:26 16th July 2012

porridge_time says...

Mr Cooper's record is unblemished save for a two-week suspension in 2010

Surely they mean unpunished;-0

Posted 10:51 16th July 2012

startledwombat says...

I begin to understand why there is a small problem with rugby's officiating at the moment. They can't communicate clearly.

> principle contact

Cooper's offence was not about contact in principle. It was about an actual contact.

I suspect - and it's a wild theory, mind - that the official means "principal contact" as in "main contact" or "primary contact".

But after some of the TMO calls we've seen in the S15, who knows what is going on in the minds of these blokes.

Posted 10:50 16th July 2012

tha_mai says...

blindmice - but it was not just a yellow card - referee issued a white card at same time referring the tackle to the Citing Commissioner, who determined it met the threshold for a red card and therefore a suspension, and on to a judicial hearing.

We'll never know how close referee was to issuing a red - may have been close, though the way the Waratahs played they couldn't have won if he'd sent two or three off.

Posted 10:42 16th July 2012

tha_mai says...

Decision made by Brisbane, Queensland lawyer Paul Tully.

"Reds coach Ewen McKenzie admitted that he knows the judiciary officer in charge, Paul Tully, but added "that doesn't mean anything, they [SANZAR] are a law unto themselves."

All sounds completely impartial and fair to me.

Posted 10:29 16th July 2012