Perth player banned for five years for ref attack

SYDNEY : A rugby player in Western Australia has been banned for 96 matches, about five years of play, over physical abuse of a referee during club match in April.

The Perth Bayswater Rugby Club player was not named in the Rugby Western Australia (RugbyWA) statement confirming the sanction, the strictest available under World Rugby laws.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the player had knocked over the referee in an incident initially deemed accidental but reassessed after witness statements and video evidence.

"We strongly condemn any form of abuse or harassment towards match officials, and are determined to ensure that any such behaviour is stamped out of the game," RugbyWA chief executive Simon Taylor said in the statement. "The rugby community must remain vigilant against abuse towards match officials, and we hope that this sanction contributes to ensuring a more respectful approach to officials at any level of rugby."

Rugby union has a reputation as a tough game, but verbal abuse of, or physical contact with, referees and touch judges has always been taboo.

South Africa fullback Percy Montgomery missed the 2003 World Cup campaign after being handed a lengthy ban for pushing over a touch judge, while England flanker Neil Back served a six-month ban in 1996 for a similar assault on a referee.

Five Spanish players were banned for periods ranging from 14 to 43 matches after confronting the referee at the end of a shock defeat to Belgium in a World Cup qualifying match in 2018.