The Crusaders have launched a private investigation into the allegations that rocked them over the weekend, the Warriors look to make it three in-a-row against Brisbane this weekend and Laura sits down with Sir Graham Henry to chat Auckland Grammar
All Black Richie Mo'unga spat beer at a woman in a Cape Town bar and inappropriately touched her, according to a Radio New Zealand report.
RNZ has quoted the woman as saying the incident happened on Saturday, May 11 at the Arcade bar in Cape Town.
The Crusaders had played the Bulls in Pretoria the day before and were preparing for their next Super Rugby match against the Stormers seven days later.
The woman is seeking to obtain security footage from the bar to further validate the story. She says she has also emailed Crusaders management.
RNZ reported her as saying she decided to go public after allegations emerged about the homophobic behaviour of Crusaders players in a Cape Town McDonalds restaurant.
The Crusaders have strongly denied any wrongdoing by their players in that case.
The woman claims she messaged Mo'unga on Instagram and apparently received an apology from him saying he was "intoxicated" at the time and that he "did not condone that type of behaviour".
Arcade bar in Cape Town. Photo / Google maps
The woman described the incident saying: "We got there [the club] and we noticed, I was actually telling my friends, these guys they look like New Zealanders, they look like either All Blacks or something.
"My friends and I were just standing, talking and then we just had... a lot of beer being spat at us and we looked and then my friend and I were shocked at what was happening.
"I told the guy 'look here, that's not okay, you don't do that' and he just flat out ignored us and walked away, he looked at us with a dead stare and just walked away."
A "friend" - it was not stated if it was another Crusaders player - of the alleged spitter approached the group and the woman told him what the player had done was not okay.
Photo / Twitter
Photo / Twitter
"He says, 'no, we're sorry, it won't happen again'," she said.
The group of friends continued to dance.
"And then I noticed the guy [Mo'unga] behind me, and then he like pinched me on my bum and then as I was going to retaliate, my friend was like 'no don't, it's not worth it', leaving him and he just also had that like dead look on his face, he had no reaction...carried on partying, everything."
The group left Arcade early because the woman said, "we were over it".
"They clearly had no respect for anyone at that place, normally Arcade's the place where we go to unwind and have fun with one another, but that was the worst experience so far."
The woman identified the man as Mo'unga after looking at a television interview in South Africa.
"I noticed this guy look really familiar, because it was an interview, and I told my friends 'look... this guy's from Arcade'."
"It is this guy because he has the exact same haircut, anyone can tell me yes it was dark, no I will never forget that face, I will never forget that face," she said.
The woman says she messaged Mo'unga via Instagram to confront him about spitting at them. A screenshot in the RNZ story of an Instagram exchange seems to indicates Mo'unga replied and apologised.
The Instagram exchange. Photo / Radio New Zealand
The reply stated: "I'm really sorry for that I'm not aware that I did that. Obviously was intoxicated and should've gone home long before that stage, I'm sorry to you and your friends and want to assure you I don't condone that behaviour and am sorry about that."
The woman says: "I've never been in such a position, I've never been violated, so for me it's a first and I don't know what to do.
"I just feel like something needs to be done because, like I said, this is something small thing, it might be miniscule thing but then he does it again and he's drunk and he does it again and it's something way worse and that person maybe actually commits suicide or does something way worse than what I did, and then it's another story.
