Hurricanes v Brumbies, Super Rugby R13 2012

[Slim 293]

NZ newspaper says Michael Hooper should have been taken from field before bad tackle

• BY:WAYNE SMITH
• From:The Australian
• May 21, 2012 12:00AM

BRUMBIES coach Jake White has dismissed a NZ media report that brilliant young flanker Michael Hooper was concussed when he made the tip tackle on Hurricanes forward Victor Vito that could see him suspended today.

Hooper, who not only looks like David Pocock but plays like him as well, was clearly woozy following a tackle early in the Brumbies' vital 37-25 victory over the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday night.

A report in New Zealand's Weekend Herald yesterday claimed he should have been taken from the field for his own safety long before he made the 48th-minute tackle on Vito for which he was cited after the match.

He will face a SANZAR judiciary hearing today and any suspension would cause him to miss the match with the Queensland Reds in Canberra on Saturday night that will go a long way to determining which team finishes on top of the Australian conference.

"Concussion is still often treated lightly and instances like Hooper's clear discomfort on Friday night are where the game lets itself down," the Herald said in a report by Paul Lewis. "It makes no difference that Hooper recovered and went on to become the most influential player in this match _ the fact remains that he should have been taken off."


But White yesterday rejected the claim outright. "People use the word "concussion" very loosely," White told The Australian.

"Our doctor is one of the most conservative in the game and he said he (Hooper) was OK. He did get a bit of a bang but he finished the game and we did a further medical check that showed he was all right."

Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan also denied the Herald's claim, insisting the knock Hooper had taken was no worse than the one Reds flanker Jake Schatz received early in Queensland's match against the Lions at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

Hopefully, Hooper will escape with no worse a penalty than the off-field yellow card Reds fullback Luke Morahan was handed following his tip tackle on Sonny Bill Williams the previous week against the Chiefs.

"If Morahan got away with picking up Sonny Bill Williams and dropping him, then hopefully the same thing will happen this time," White said.

"But that's out of our control."

 

[Slim 293]

Finals come early for Brumbies and Reds​

​

Jim Morton​

​

May 20, 2012 - 6:59PM​

​

AAP​

The Brumbies will mount a vigorous judicial challenge to have linchpin flanker Michael Hooper available for Saturday night's high-stakes Super Rugby clash with a resurgent Queensland.​

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The Brumbies have engaged lawyers to help defend Hooper when he fronts a SANZAR hearing on Monday evening, desperately hoping to escape suspension for an alleged dangerous tackle.​

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It's no surprise the Australian conference leaders will do all they can to get the in-form No.7 off the charge as the result will have a huge bearing on a match both sides are treating as a final at Canberra Stadium.​

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Hooper was sorely missed when he was strangely left on the bench for the Brumbies' 20-13 Good Friday loss to the Reds when the defending champions outpointed them at the breakdown with ball scavengers Liam Gill and Beau Robinson starting together and reaping the rewards.​

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Teenager Gill has been instrumental in Queensland's surge up the table to cut the Brumbies' (44) conference lead to eight points.​

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Hooper's potential ban would not only rob the Brumbies of a key man but also rugby fans and Test selectors of an eagerly-anticipated head-to-head battle between Australia's two rising stars.​

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Last year they were Australian Under-20 teammates but now they're Super Rugby's leading pilferers and competing to be the next Wallabies open-side flanker behind David Pocock.​

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Despite SANZAR's intentions in stamping out lifting tackles, Brumbies skipper Ben Mowen was confident Hooper would be exonerated for his accidental effort on Hurricanes back-rower Victor Vito in Friday night's 37-25 win in Wellington.​

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Hooper was only penalised by referee Mark Lawrence, but cited post-match, and then on review the tackle was referred to a hearing before New Zealand judicial officer Nick Davidson QC (Quade Cooper).​

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While it was not deliberate, a lack of intent did not help Reds winger Digby Ioane to escape a four-match ban for a similar tip-tackle in March.​

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"A lot of the time it's more due to what the attacking player does, twisting and turning in the tackle," Mowen told AAP.​

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"It would be great for the fans to see that competition (between Hooper and Gill). For a long time it was Pocock and then no one but now we have these two guys on the rise."​

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Colby Fainga'a looms as Hooper's potential replacement for his first match back from an ankle injury in front what's set to be Canberra's biggest crowd for several years.​

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"We've already taken the view that it's a final," Mowen said.​

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"While you don't want to focus too much on other sides, the reality is we can almost end their hopes of the finals or make it really hard for them.​

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"There's a lot at stake in respect to the conference but as much as that we want to have momentum going into the June break."​

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With Quade Cooper making a sparkling first-half comeback from knee surgery, Queensland (36) scored a 34-20 win over the last-placed Lions to be eighth on the table and five points out of the top six.​

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The Waratahs' finals hopes were extinguished in Cape Town by a 19-13 loss to the pace-setting Stormers (49), while the Melbourne Rebels leapfrogged NSW with a 32-31 win over the Western Force.​

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The Chiefs (49) lead the Kiwi conference following a bye but the Crusaders (42) snapped back into form with a 59-12 drubbing of the Blues.​

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© 2012 AAP​

 

[Schadenfreude]

No way he'll get off that. Went past horizontal and didn't release or attempt to safely lower him.

The guys foot didn't come off the ground until the last moment. Hooper didn't lift him at all.

So you're saying he'll get banned for NOT lifting a player?

 

[Sully]

Instead of having a go at someone why not wait a few hours and see what the judiciary thinks.


Sent using Tapatalk on a very old phone

 

[mudskipper]

nothing in that tackle Vito foot was on the ground until he fell over... Hooper will be OK...

 

[Godfrey]

I'm surprised you feel that way.

 

[Ghibli]

Hope you're right MS.....................
would be awesome to play hooper & colby to double-barrell Gill & Robinson, although I suspect Jake will field only one of them anyway........

 

[mudskipper]

Yep I was right....nothing in it Gents Hoops in this week against the evil Red men...