All Black flanker Chris Masoe took a financial hit yesterday to add to his embarrassment after a scuffle in which he reportedly burst into tears when team-mate Tana Umaga hit him with a woman's handbag.
The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) fined Masoe NZ$3,000 (US$1,910) and found him guilty of hitting a man in a Christchurch bar early on Sunday morning, hours after the Wellington Hurricanes' Super 14 final loss to the Canterbury Crusaders.
The NZRU said it accepted the word of former All Blacks captain Umaga that he was trying to defuse the situation and found he had no case to answer.
Statements from the NZRU following an investigation into the incident did not give any details of the scuffle.
But reports said Masoe -- named in the All Black team to play Argentina soon afterwards -- had punched a man in the jaw after tripping over his legs at about 7am. Umaga had then grabbed a woman's handbag and hit Masoe twice across the head, witnesses said.
"Umaga hit him a couple of times with the handbag as if to say `you idiot.' Masoe started crying. It was crazy," the 24-year-old unnamed victim of the punch told the Press newspaper.
Masoe admitted his role in the incident and apologized yesterday.
"I accept that it was totally inappropriate to behave the way I did and regret that it happened," Masoe said in the NZRU statement.
Umaga has replaced a mobile phone which was inside the handbag and broken in the scuffle.
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Ben O’Connor won Thursday’s monster Alpine stage to the ski resort of Courchevel as three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar responded to attacks from Jonas Vingegaard and dropped him to cement his grip on the yellow jersey. With just three stages left before the race ends in Paris, Pogacar looks poised to retain his title, with a comfortable lead of more than 4 minutes over Vingegaard, a two-time champion. Stage 18 featured three extremely difficult ascents, including the 26.4km climb of the Col de La Loze to the finish. At 2,304m, La Loze is the highest summit in this year’s Tour. Two
US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early yesterday morning marathon to Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina of Spain, while the UK’s Emma Raducanu and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez reached the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA DC Open. World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in falling to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2am. Davidovich-Fokina advanced to the semi-final against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Fritz, who had 20 aces and six
RSS