Cooper: 'Nonu knows he was lucky'
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:59
On notice: Errant Hurricanes centre Ma'a Nonu
Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper has admitted that burly All Black centre Ma'a Nonu is on notice after a series of yellow cards and a citing in recent weeks, admitting the 46-Test veteran was lucky to get away with his behaviour against the Cheetahs.
Nonu was on Monday found not guilty of a reckless tackle during the 13-37 Super 14 loss to the Stormers at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town last Saturday, after being cited under Law 10.4 (e) – tackling a player above the line of the shoulders.
It was for a tackle on Stormers flyhalf Peter Grant in the 71st minute of the game. SANZAR Judicial Officer Rob Stelzner deemed that Nonu's tackle did not breach the laws and adjudged that in an attempt to make the tackle, his arm "slid upwards on impact" with Grant's ball-carrying arm.
This follows two previous matches in which Nonu was yellow carded - for repeated tackle infringements by the Hurricanes in their 33-18 win over the Lions in Week Three and for a tip tackle on Cheetahs captain Juan Smith in their 12-28 loss to the Bloemfontein outfit in Week Four.
Cooper, who said he was confident Nonu would escape punishment, following the citing after the Stormers loss, but admitted that they player was "very fortunate" the previous week.
"We are happy with that," Cooper said in a teleconference interview with rugby365.com, when asked about the outcome of Nonu's hearing this week.
He said he was "surprised" the player was even cited, but "not surprised" that he got off.
Asked if he was concerned about the possible accumulative affect after the two yellow cards in the previous weeks, Cooper said not really.
"We were very confident that he would get off," the coach said, adding that he felt though the player was "very lucky" that he didn't get cited the previous week.
Asked if he had chatted with Nonu over the events of the last few weeks - two sin-binnings and a citing - Cooper said he is very aware that he is lucky.
"He has to make some shifts and we have discussed that," Cooper said in the teleconference call.
"As I said, I was convinced he would get off [this week], but he knows that he was lucky not to be cited last week."
Asked if he felt the judicial system is fair, Cooper said he has not given it too much thought.
"To use a quote from the great Tana Umaga: 'It is not tiddledywinks'," the Hurricanes mentor said.
"Again if we stay within the boundaries of what a dangerous tackle is ... use the arms, stay below the shoulders, you should be okay."
The Hurricanes, after two successive losses on South African soil, now travel to Pretoria to tackle the unbeaten and table-topping Bulls in Week Six of the competition.
After winning their first three matches, the Hurricanes were sitting pretty in second place - just one point behind the Bulls.
They have now dropped from second to eighth, having failed to collect a single point in the last fortnight.
By Jan de Koning
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