Nathan Harris: I am innocent

* Nathan Harris was later cleared of this alleged sexual attack. South African police closed their investigation into the allegation, advising the NZRU that they will not be prosecuting Harris.

Western Bay rugby player Nathan Harris maintains he is innocent after outing himself as the New Zealand Under-20s player accused of rape in South Africa.

Harris, 20, a former Tauranga Boys' College student, has identified himself in order to protect the reputations of his teammates.

In another development, a member of the squad joked about a rapist in a Facebook post as Harris was being investigated by South African police. Rugby officials would not comment on the posting but it was removed after APNZ asked questions about it.

Harris has been accused of raping a 22-year-old South African woman in a Cape Town hotel room - occupied by Harris and another team member - following the team's finals loss to hosts South Africa in the IRB Under-20s championship on Friday night (South African time).

Harris' family in Te Puke would not comment and neither would the head coach nor the club president at Te Puke Sports and Recreation Club, where Harris played his club rugby.

But a neighbour of the Harris family described Harris as "a lovely young man" who was "mature", "quite reserved" and "well behaved".

In a statement yesterday, Harris professed his innocence and apologised for creating controversy.

"I am making this statement today so everyone knows that I am the player at the centre of this issue. There is no one else involved.

"I want to say very strongly that I am innocent of the allegation made against me.

"However, I should not have allowed a woman to enter my room. This was against team rules.

"I am proud to have had this amazing opportunity to represent my country playing rugby, and I know that I let the team down and I let my family down.

"For that I am truly sorry and I want to apologise to my teammates, team management and to all the parents and friends who supported our team, but especially to my family for the distress this has caused them all."

He said the past five days had been "a very stressful and painful time for me and my family" and he was "hoping for a good outcome so I can get on with my life".

Harris, listed as 186cm tall and 105kg, was in South Africa as part of the New Zealand side, nicknamed the Baby Blacks, for the IRB Under-20 world championship.

He has featured in the Bay of Plenty Times on numerous occasions throughout his rugby-playing career for Tauranga Boys', the Bay of Plenty Development side and Te Puke Sports, and his surf life saving roles for the Papamoa club and the Te Puke pool.

The Cape Town woman at the centre of the allegation says she was raped - although she cannot remember any of the details of the incident, which occurred last Friday night following the Baby Blacks' loss to the hosts.

In South African newspaper The New Age, which broke the story, South African police spokesman Colonel Vish Naidoo confirmed police had been called to the Southern Sun Hotel Newlands on Saturday morning.

"I can confirm that a woman claimed that she was raped at the hotel. [But] the victim could not tell detectives who raped her because she couldn't remember anything about the incident," he said.

According to one of the hotel staff members, the newspaper reported, the 22-year-old woman had entered the hotel on Friday evening and had told the front desk she was going to visit her cousin in one of the rooms.

"But it seems she met the rugby players somewhere earlier, because she knew what rooms they were staying in.

"I think she lives near the hotel. According to some of my colleagues she was apparently drunk. And on Saturday morning she called her parents to fetch her at the hotel after claims that she was raped.

"Her parents insisted on opening a case of rape. We are not certain that she was raped, but there was blood found on a sheet on a bed. The rugby players left the hotel at 12am on Saturday."

South African police are awaiting forensic results before they decide whether they will press charges.

A friend of Harris, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Bay of Plenty Times that news he was the player at the centre of the rape allegation was hard to believe.

"I wouldn't have thought his name would even come up with it... I know he would never do anything like that."

NZRU chief executive Steve Tew this week said the Baby Blacks squad had been reminded of team protocols while on tour only hours before the alleged rape.

Tew told media this week that the Baby Blacks side had been drinking on Friday night but he didn't believe they were grossly intoxicated.

APNZ, staff reporter