The Queensland rugby winger Digby Ioane has banned himself from Twitter and apologised for an impulsive sledge of New Zealand referee Keith Brown.
Ioane will make his Super Rugby return from a hairline facial fracture against the Melbourne Rebels on Friday night but is likely to do it after copping a SANZAR fine for labelling Brown as "the worst ref ever" on his Twitter account.
The Wallabies flyer made the tweet immediately after the Reds' 28-26 Super Rugby loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday night.
A repentant Ioane attempted to close down his account early the following morning but could only remove the tweet after it had been commented on.
Super Rugby's governing body issued a please explain to Reds management yesterday and the in-form three-quarter is set to face an independently-chaired hearing via teleconference later this week.
If he is found to have breached rugby's code of conduct relating to criticising match officials, Ioane can be fined or suspended but previous rants against referees have resulted in heavy fines.
