Hurricanes and All Blacks star Ardie Savea could face further discipline from Super Rugby officials after he made an offensive gesture towards an opponent during his side’s defeat of the Melbourne Rebels on Friday night.
The 39-33 victory has been overshadowed by the incident which saw the usually composed Savea make a throat-slitting gesture towards opposition halfback Ryan Louwrens.
The fiery moment came after Savea was shown a yellow card for his part in a minor on-field scuffle between players and prompted Rebels captain Reece Hodge to complain to match referee James Doleman, that “he’s threatening to kill him”.
Home fans in the crowd at AAMI Stadium made their disappointment with Savea clear both at the time and following the match, while social media erupted with a host of reaction.