Graham Henry and Richie McCaw unhappy with Quade Cooper’s escape from charges - Rugby News
All Blacks coach, Graham Henry, is not happy over SANZAR’s decision to drop charges against Quade Cooper. The Wallabies Cooper was cited for kneeing the All Blacks captain Richie McCaw in the head and the matter was sent to the governing body of Tri-Nations.
SANZAR looked into the matter and turned down the citation and said Cooper was free to participate in the forthcoming Rugby World Cup. Henry expressed his disagreement with SANZAR’s decision on August 29 and said he thinks Cooper made a deliberate effort to
knee McCaw.
Cooper, who played a vital role in the Wallabies victory over the All Blacks in the Final of the Tri-Nations Cup, fell into controversy during the second-half but was lucky to escape any unpleasant situation before RWC. Video clips show Cooper put his knee
on McCaw’s head but the SANZAR Judicial Officer, Jannie Lubbe, cleared him from the charges on August 28.
Cooper told the Judicial Officer that a messy situation was created at the ruck which led him unconsciously collide with McCaw. Cooper further said that due to the huge gathering of players from both sides an unpleasant situation occurred in Brisbane.
However, Henry is moving on from the decision and told reporters that, “I thought he deliberately kneed Richie McCaw in the face and I think everybody else did too. I'm very surprised at the result of the judicial hearing, let's put it that way, but let's
not dwell on that there's much more important things to focus on and we need to move on and focus on the things that we can control.”
McCaw also talked to the reporters about the decision and said he was expecting the same. McCaw added that, “Nothing amazes me anymore to be perfectly honest. It's a tough one and I don't have the answer to be honest.”
Richie McCaw and Quade Cooper are reported to be at loggers head with each other since their test math played in Hong Kong during 2010.
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