New Zealand superstar Ardie Savea is at the centre of a major controversy after appearing to make a throat-slitting gesture towards an opponent amid angry scenes.
A huge brawl kicked off in the Melbourne Rebels v Hurricanes Super Rugby match, with Savea being sin binned as a result.
The chaos started just before the half time whistle following a line out to the Rebels. The ensuing maul was brought down by the 'Canes, but in the midst of the collapse ,Rebels lock Josh Canham and Dane Coles went for each other.
The pair were head to head on the floor as both teams flooded to the scene to try and de-escalate the problem. However, amid the disarray, Savea threw Rebels fly-half Carter Gordon to the floor.
The pair exchanged a few choice words before Gordon decided to break it off and walk away. His team mate Joe Pincus also got a big shove from former All Black Julian Savea.
Referee James Doleman discussed the incident with assistant referees Paul Williams and Graham Cooper, settling that the initial dispute between Canham and Coles was "push and shove". However, Doleman came to the conclusion that Savea escalated the situation, and because he had already been penalised for something else, he was given a yellow card.
Rebels scrum-half Louwrens clapped in front of Savea after he was given his marching orders, prompting a fiery response from the big number eight, who pointed at the nine and drew his thumb across his neck in what appeared to be a throat-slitting gesture. The commentary team were clearly taken aback by the act.
A microphone picked up a player saying: "He's threatening to f*****g kill him, he's threatening to kill him", but it is unclear who that was.
At half time former Australia international Justin Harrison said he'd never seen the like before.
"Not only Ardie Savea. I don't think I've seen any player make thjat sort of action and gesture in amongst the game. There's been some argy bargy and some grabbing of jerseys and some wrestling, but for me Ardie Savea comes in here grabs Carter Gordon from behind and throws him to the ground and rightfully returns Ard with a yellow card," he said.
"This sort of carry on (gesture), you know there are different ways to get a message across."
The match ended 39-33 to the Hurricanes, and the winning side will face a fellow All Black stacked side in the Blues next weekend, where brothers Beauden and Jordie Barrett will face off.
Read next:
