Rugby World Cup
ARU will not ban Twitter
ESPNscrum Staff
June 17, 2011
Australia's Quade Cooper celebrates scoring a try, Australia v England, Subiaco Oval, Perth, Australia, June 12, 2010
Fly-half Quade Cooper is one of the more prolific users of Twitter within the Wallabies' squad © Getty Images
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Tournaments/Tours: Rugby World Cup
Teams: New Zealand

The Australian Rugby Union have vowed not to follow their New Zealand counterparts and ban the ban the use of Twitter during this year's World Cup.

The All Blacks hit the headlines earlier this week by revealing that they will impose a ban on players using the micro-blogging website and other social media with head coach Graham Henry keen to keep his squad focused on winning the sport's biggest prize.

But the ARU are not going to follow their lead and are prepared to trust their squad players not to speak out of turn during the tournament. "There are social media guidelines around the World Cup and what can and can't be done, but so long as our players adhere to those we have no issues,'' an ARU spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald. ''We're definitely not looking to limit or reduce what our players can and can't do through their personal Twitter accounts.

''If anything, it's a great connection between the players and the fans. From our point of view, we are definitely not looking to limit their tweeting so long as they adhere to those World Cup guidelines laid out by the IRB.''

The ARU's view on the matter is similar to the stance taken by the Rugby Football Union last year. English rugby's governing body stopped short of an outright ban and instead cautioned the country's leading players about the perils of using sites in what they called a "a firming up" of existing guidelines.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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