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The Hurricanes’ official Twitter account reacted to Chiefs midfielder Johnny Fa’auli’s “shocker” no-arms tackle on Wes Goosen – for which the 22-year-old was shown a red card – before deleting the post.
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Fa’auli was sent off in the 62nd minute of the match after using his shoulder to make contact with the head of Hurricanes centre Goosen, who also had to be removed from the game after failing his HIA. The Chiefs were able to hold on for a 28-24 home win despite Fa’auli’s absence.
Following the incident the Hurricanes tweeted “what a shocker… player with a bad history of that crap” while the TMO reviewed Fa’auli’s tackle. The tweet was later deleted, and a statement was issued to Stuff stating the club “regret a social media post that was made on the club’s official Twitter account during Friday night’s match against the Chiefs at FMG Waikato Stadium following an incident that saw a red card issued to Johnny Fa’auli for a dangerous tackle.”
Hurricanes CEO Avan Lee also tweeted his disapproval before quickly deleting his remarks.
Lee tweeted that Fa’auli was a “loose cannon” and that a red card was “overdue for that guy”.
Hurricanes CEO pulls no punches. #HURvCHI https://t.co/5LYhEN9z7G
— Scotty Stevenson (@sumostevenson) July 13, 2018
Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd deemed Fa’auli’s tackle a “deliberate act” after the match.
“I mean, I don’t like to see a red card in any game, but red is red, and you don’t get a more obvious red card than that,” Boyd told Fairfax. “That was shoulder, no arms, straight to the head, with force, with intent. There’s no butting out of any of that.”
“So that was a deliberate act. The Chiefs will be disappointed with that action, I’m assuming the player will be disappointed with that action. And at the end of the day, he got, in the end, what was necessary.”
Chiefs head coach Colin Cooper echoed Boyd’s sentiment.
“It’s disappointing. He’s better than that,” Cooper told Fairfax.
“He looks to stamp his mark defensively, but he’s got to do it within the rules, he just can’t drift up, particularly towards the head.”
“I mean, I don’t like to see a red card in any game, but red is red, and you don’t get a more obvious red card than that,” Boyd told Stuff. “That was shoulder, no arms, straight to the head, with force, with intent. There’s no butting out of any of that.”
“So that was a deliberate act. The Chiefs will be disappointed with that action, I’m assuming the player will be disappointed with that action. And at the end of the day, he got, in the end, what was necessary.”
Last year Fa’auli served a four game suspension after a dangerous tackle against Bulls centre Jan Serfontein.
The young midfielder will likely face another suspension in the coming days, and will have his judicial hearing on Sunday night.
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