Savea creates online storm with unprecedentedly shocking gesture after fight
By Rugby Onslaught

Savea creates online storm with unprecedentedly shocking gesture after fight

Hurricanes and All Blacks star Ardie Savea could find himself in trouble this week following a gesture he made to Melbourne Rebels scrum-half Ryan Louwrens.

After being yellow carded by referee James Doleman for ‘escalating’ a fight, Savea was approached by Louwrens. The No9 said something that provoked the No8 not only to square up to him, but to then produce a slitting throat gesture.

That single gesture has caused an online storm, with the All Black widely being condemned for unacceptable behaviour, which does make sense as he is more or less threatening to kill the No9. Now scrum-halves are put on the pitch to be mouthy, but no one deserves a death threat (although there are some fans that might disagree with some No9s).

This was wholly out of character from Savea, who did apologise immediately after the match. But there is a chance he could face further action here.

“I can understand the fans are furious around the gesture that I made,” Savea told Stan Sport.

“It was a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing, that’s footy but I understand, kids are watching us.

“That’s out of character for me so I put my hand up and I apologise for that … I’ve got to be better.”

This was his apology:

To make matters worse, this was a very innocuous yellow card as far as fights go, although it was because of repeat offences. Savea was clearly not happy with the decision, but the rugby world are now very curious to see what Louwrens said to him to evoke such a shocking response.

Fortunately for Savea, the yellow did not prove to be costly as his side came away 39-33 winners in round two of Super Rugby Pacific, but what happened after the yellow could have a major impact on the rest of Savea’s, and indeed the Hurricanes’, season.

Take a look at the incident:

Rugby Onslaught
March 3, 12:22
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