Wallabies star Quade Cooper escapes possible ban before Rugby World Cup
Quade Cooper, who helped his side to a historic win over the All Blacks in the final of the Tri-Nations Cup 2011, has been cleared by SANZAR from charges of foul play. Cooper was cited for kneeing Richie McCaw in the head during the final of th eTri-Nations
Cup, played in Brisbane on August 27. The two great rivals had a row in the tournament decider during a scrum. The incident was reported to SANZAR, the governing body of Tri-Nations which cleared the Wallabies fly-half on August 28.
The judicial officer, Jannie Lubbe, discarded the charges imposed on Cooper and gave the player a new life for Rugby World Cup 2011. SANZA laws allow the body to ban the culprit if he is found guilty of kneeing an opposing player according to the severity
of incident.
However, Cooper was lucky enough to survive any unpleasant situation before the Rugby World Cup 2011. The video footages were showing the great kicker imposing his knee in All Blacks skippers’ head but the clarification he gave to the judicial officer worked
magic for him.
Explaining the matter to Jannie Lubbe, Cooper adopted the stand of getting involved the situation unconsciously. Cooper told the Judge that there were number of players hanging around during the ruck which made the situation worse.
After being cleared from the charges, Cooper was delighted with the decision. Talking to the reporters he said that, “I'm just very grateful and happy for a fair hearing and I'm just looking forward to getting on with rugby and focussing on the World Cup.
Any time that you have to face the judiciary it's going to be a sleepless night. I'm just happy to get a fair hearing and now I can get a good sleep.”
Cooper further said that, “There were bodies everywhere and ... it's a contact sport and blokes are going to come into contact with each other. It's (now) a good time to think back and celebrate winning the Tri Nations after a 10-year drought.”
Wallabies play their first match of the Rugby Wold Cup 2011 against Italy on September 11.
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