Assaulting Rugby Referees is part of our country's DNA

June 2018: Marist player Sautia Lemalu receives a 10 year ban for twice striking a referee in Masterton

July 2018: Referee punches after a match in Oamaru between Old Boys & Valley

June 2019: Central Rugby Club (Tasman) player Peter Vakaloa makes threatening advances towards the assistant referee after being red-carded.

 July 2019: A ref is punched in a match in Middlemarch, Otago (refer my last post for the gory details)

July 2019: A 15 y.o referee was punched and strangled by a spectator after he sent a player off the field at an under-12s game in Auckland, involving two teams from the same Ardmore Marist club.  

South Island Club Rugby Plumbs New Depths

July 24^th: A Nelson Rugby Club player requires reconstructive surgery after being punched in a game against Motueka.

July 27^th: A Central Otago referee was punched at the end of a game between Crescent & Strath Tairei held in Middlemarch.  

Makes me cringe every-time I now hear “Rugby is our national sport”.