Digby Out for 3 weeks for Dangerous Tackle
Queensland winger Digby Ioane has been suspended for three weeks week after being found guilty of a dangerous tackle in the Super 14 match against the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium on Saturday, 1 March 2008.
Ioane faced a SANZAR Judicial Officer in Canberra this morning after being cited by Citing Commissioner Scott Nowland over a tackle on Brumbies backrower Stephen Hoiles in the eighth minute of the match.
No action was taken at the time with match officials not having a clear view of the incident. Following the disciplinary hearing today, Ioane has been suspended up to and including Sunday, 23 March 2008.
SANZAR Judicial Officer Terry Willis conducted the disciplinary hearing. Ioane, who pleaded guilty to a Dangerous Tackle under Law 10.4(e), was represented by solicitor David Shand.
The Judicial Officer found that the offence, with Hoiles tipped past the horizontal, was mid-range with an entry point of six weeks suspension.
But after careful consideration – with Ioane’s previously unblemished record at Super Rugby and international level, and the remorse he has shown over the tackle taken into consideration – Mr. Willis found that the penalty should be reduced to three weeks.
