Richard Cockerill has banned Leicester players from using Twitter after Jordan Crane announced an injury on the website.
Cockerill clamps down after Crane's injury announcement
Leicester boss Richard Cockerill has banned his players from using Twitter after Jordan Crane announced a three-month injury lay-off on the social network website.
The Tigers number eight picked up an ankle problem during the his side's 17-13 pre-season victory over Munster last Friday.
He posted his disappointment on his Twitter feed, initially saying: "Ankle again bad times," before following the statement up on Monday with: "It's a dark day and it will be three long months."
But Cockerill insists that Crane has not yet been ruled out for any specific period of time, saying the 24-year-old has "a bit of damage" and is still awaiting results of an appointment with a specialist.
"He is banned from Tweeting. The next time he does that I will break both his ankles," the director of rugby said.
Ban
"None of our players will be Tweeting or Facebooking anything about Leicester Rugby Club ever again."
Leicester captain Geordan Murphy also said that Crane's speculation over the extent of the injury was not helpful for the club.
"When you get an injury as a player you are always a hypochondriac. You always think the season is gone, type of thing," the Ireland international added.
"Until you have had three or four scans and spoken to a specialist it is not fair to comment on anything. Potentially it could be two weeks, potentially you could be finished. Who knows?
"It is probably not worth him speculating."
Absentees
If Crane's initial prediction proves correct, he will join locks Richard Blaze, Geoff Parling and Louis Deacon on the long-term injury list.
However, Cockerill says that the absence of key players will be no excuse should the defending Aviva Premiership champions disappoint in the coming season.
He added: "The Leicester board expects us to win the Premiership and do well in Europe. That is the same every year. If you are not good enough at Leicester you don't last very long.
"I have got to prove something every day and we work hard for the next Saturday. It is a seven day cycle for me, I don't believe in two or three year plans because you have to win today.
"There are probably six or seven teams that could win the Premiership. There is no magic formula. We have good people and good players and we will work very hard."
