Sanzaar gives Quade a three-week ban

BRISBANE: Reds flyhalf Quade Cooper has been banned for three Super Rugby games following his sending off for a dangerous tackle against the Lions at the weekend.

Cooper, who was fortunate to avoid being sanctioned for a no-arms tackle earlier in the game, was red-carded early in the second half for a high tackle on Rohan Janse van Rensburg as the Reds crashed to a 44-14 loss at Ellis Park.

The competition’s governing body, Sanzaar, said Cooper’s tackle merited a six-week ban but that this had been reduced after taking the player’s disciplinary record into account.

“... The Judicial Committee deemed the act of foul play merited a mid-range entry point of six weeks,” Sanzaar said. “However, taking into account ... the player’s admission of guilt, his remorse and the fact that the player had a good disciplinary record, having not come under notice since 2012, the Judicial Committee reduced the suspension to three weeks.”

Cooper will miss the Reds’ games against the Jaguares, Hurricanes and ACT Brumbies, but will be available to face the Southern Kings in Brisbane on April 15.

The Reds lost prop James Slipper to a ruptured Achilles tendon against the Lions, and Cooper had flown back to Brisbane from Johannesburg with the skipper in anticipation of his ban.

Jake McIntyre is likely to replace Cooper against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

Meanwhile the twice Super Rugby champion ACT Brumbies have issued a call to arms to rugby fans in the Australian capital, asking them to show their support by turning out for this weekend’s match.

The Brumbies take on the Highlanders on Saturday against the backdrop of uncertainty surrounding the make-up of Super Rugby next season.

Although a final decision has yet to be made, proposals have been put forward which would see Australia lose one or more of their five franchises as part of a reorganisation of the competition.

In response to media speculation surrounding the changes, the Brumbies said yesterday: “The club is committed to a long future in this city”.

The Brumbies, who won the Super Rugby title in 2001 and 2004 and have made the playoffs in the last four years, are Australia’s most successful Super Rugby franchise by some distance.

Although the Perth-based Western Force and Melbourne Rebels are more likely to face the axe if one is wielded, there has also been talk of merger between the Brumbies and the Rebels. – Reuters