Hurricanes apologise over ‘inappropriate’ tweet

The Hurricanes have apologised for an ‘inappropriate’ tweet during their 28-24 loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton last Friday night.

Midway through the second half, Chiefs midfielder Johnny Fa’auli was given a red card for a dangerous tackle on Wes Goosen which Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd described as a ‘deliberate act’.

The Hurricanes official Twitter account tweeted immediately after the brutal hit saying: “What a shocker... player with a bad history of that crap”. Hurricanes CEO Avan Lee also voiced his anger on social media, saying Fa’auli’s red was “overdue for that guy”, adding he was a “loose cannon”.

Both tweets have since been deleted.

Yesterday, the Canes released a statement apologising for the social media post on their official Twitter account.

“The Hurricanes regret a social media post that was made on the club’s official Twitter account during Friday night’s match against the Chiefs at FMG Waikato Stadium following an incident that saw a red card issued to Johnny Fa’auli for a dangerous tackle,” the statement said.

“The post was deleted because it was inappropriate.”

Lee also apologised for his tweet.

“We regret putting those comments out there and we apologised,” Lee told Newshub.

“Johnny has also apologised so from my perspective that is case closed.”

The Hurricanes play the Chiefs again next week, this time in Wellington for a quarterfinal playoff clash on Saturday night.