New Zealand rugby union chiefs on Thursday condemned “lowlife” racial abuse aimed at Auckland Blues coach Pat Lam after the team’s worst-ever start to a Super Rugby season.
New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) chief executive Steve Tew said he was appalled at the attacks, while Blues chief executive Andy Dalton described them as “ugly” and “totally unacceptable.”
Lam, a New Zealander of Samoan descent, broke down in tears on Wednesday describing how he and his family have faced anonymous racial abuse on social media and talkback radio over the Blues’ performances.
Dalton said some comments on the Blues’ own Web site had suggested the team’s form slump was because of Lam’s Pacific island background, despite attempts to moderate the site’s content.
“We are dealing with a lot of criticism that is racially motivated on our Web site, we’re deleting that and have filters in place, but some of it’s getting through and certainly some has impacted on Pat’s family,” Dalton told Radio New Zealand. “I can’t even repeat them, I wouldn’t waste my breath frankly, but they are absolutely lowlife.”
Dalton said the entire Auckland franchise was hurting after losing five of their first six opening matches, but singling out Lam’s ethnicity was not acceptable.
“It’s not racism within Auckland rugby, I think it’s an element of our society,” he said. “It’s a very ugly part of our society and we’ve all got a responsibility to shut that down.”
Tew said the NZRU had a zero-tolerance approach to racism, but the anonymous jibes about Lam’s ethnicity pointed to a wider problem in New Zealand.
“As a New Zealander — because I don’t think this is only a rugby issue — I’m appalled,” Tew told reporters.
“I find the whole ability by people to hide behind social media, and be faceless and to criticize people personally, and to bring race and religion or anything else into it, is just a very disappointing part of our country,” he said.
Lam choked up on Wednesday recounting the vitriolic attacks he and his family had endured as the three-time champions struggle in this year’s competition.
“It’s the faceless people, and that’s social media and so forth and talkback, when people say things that are pretty offensive, making out that it’s because I’m an islander that we’re losing, that’s just offensive,” he told reporters.
New Zealand is a major destination for migrants from Polynesia and almost a third of the All Blacks’ 30-man squad that won the Rugby World Cup last year boasted Pacific islander heritage.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to