By ALAN PERROTT
New Zealand rugby sevens player Chris Masoe has avoided punishment despite television replays showing him stomping on a Fijian player during a brawl in Chile last weekend.
The International Rugby Board's citing commissioner, Steve Hinds, a New Zealander, said he was concerned by Masoe's actions.
But after studying videotapes, he decided it was a team matter as none of the many indiscretions by New Zealanders warranted an individual citing.
The brawl between the New Zealand and Fiji sevens rugby sides erupted at the end of a World Series semifinal in Santiago on Sunday.
New Zealand won the game 19-17, but tensions boiled over as the players walked from the field after the final whistle.
Armed Chilean police broke up the brawl.
After a two-day hearing, International Rugby Board judicial officer Mario Torres Skarpa rejected tough sanctions such as fines or suspensions for the New Zealand team.
Instead, he gave them a severe reprimand for bringing the game into disrepute - a penalty the Hillary Commission branded as "tame".
In contrast, Fiji and Crusaders winger Marika Vunibaka was cited and then banned from rugby until March 31.
And if the Fiji team is involved in any more fighting during the rest of the World Series, they will lose the 18 points they received from the Chile tournament.
The Fijians were already sitting on a warning for fighting during a match with Samoa the day before.
Vunibaka will miss the Crusaders' first five Super 12 matches, losing out on match fees and contract payments.
The New Zealand Rugby Football Union was yesterday relieved at the outcome.
But chief executive David Rutherford reiterated that the New Zealand sevens team had been told by the union and management that their conduct was unacceptable.
"Everyone understands how bad the incident was," he said.
Mr Rutherford admitted that Masoe was lucky not to be cited but said the New Zealand union could not take any action against the player because he was not brought before the judiciary.
"I have no issue with players standing up for themselves when they are being attacked," he said, "and their initial reaction was exactly that.
"But [the fight] carried on way beyond that after the player who initiated it was taken out and restrained, and that was totally unacceptable.
"It's a fine line, but players have to be able to judge it.
"As far as we are concerned, the issue is now over and we will not be appealing the decision."
The incident was not Masoe's first brush with a judicial panel. In September, the NZ union gave the Taranaki flanker a written caution for a high tackle on Waikato winger Bruce Reihana.
Last year, the 23-year-old Masoe transferred from Wanganui to Taranaki on a three-year contract. He is a New Zealand sevens contracted player, a member of this year's academy intake and has also played for the Divisional XV.
The sevens semifinal in Chile flared after the final whistle when Vunibaka ran 50m to punch Amasio Valence for a strong tackle on the Fijian captain Waisale Serevi.
Mr Torres Skarpa said the New Zealanders reacted to this "extreme provocation", but there was no justification for the extent of their response.
Serevi told the hearing that there was some cheap talk and some of his players had difficulty coping with it, but there was no place for punching in rugby.
Fijian rugby union chief executive Pio Tikoisuva said his union did not support rough play and would not appeal against the sanctions.
He said the incident had had a bad effect on Fijians and the union was considering imposing its own penalties against any of its players cited in the future.
Nick Hill, chief executive of Sport and Recreation New Zealand, the body replacing the Hillary Commission, said the penalties seemed tame.
He did not want to come off as a wimp "but this leaves the perception that the incident is not viewed with the gravity that most other New Zealanders view it, which was that it was disgraceful".
It was up to the players, the management and the Rugby Union to regain the mana of the sevens team.
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