"We were shocked at what we heard and saw. Screaming at the ref that when he gets off the field they are going to rip his [expletive] head off. This is coming from the players and the sideline.
"I felt so sorry for the ref. How can this be fun? We left half way through as what we were seeing and hearing was unreal."
The incident happened just hours after the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend published a story about a push by the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union to rid Tauranga's rugby scene of verbal abuse, giving spectators the ability to report poor sideline behaviour online without fear of retribution.
This follows a spate of bad behaviour at sports matches throughout the country, including an incident on June 27 where more than 40 people were involved in a brawl that broke out during an under-15 rugby clash between Otahuhu College and Tangaroa College in which a 15-year-old was hospitalised.
Judea reserves coach, manager and player Reweti Te Mete said there may have been some "ill discipline" from his side when the team grew frustrated by the calls made by the referee during the second half of the game.
"The thoughts from our side are that there were too many poor decisions being made and what happened is a result of that frustration beginning to set into our team, into certain players.
"In the end, both teams lost out. Everyone lost out because both teams stopped enjoying the game."
Mr Te Mete said one of his players had argued with the referee about what was, in his opinion, a bad call made after a series of bad calls.
The player in concern was red-carded for his behaviour.
Mr Te Mete said his players loved the game and were passionate about rugby, but he did not condone any sort of bad behaviour by players. "We just want to be able to get out there and represent ourselves the best we can to the best of our ability, have a good game and give the opposition a good game. It's hard when there are a consistent number of poor decisions being made by a referee. That comes out in the team and in the sidelines.
"We do not condone that type of manner in terms of bad sportsmanship."
Bay of Plenty Rugby Union operations manager Neil Alton said the incident had been reported to the union and a hearing was held last night to deal with the matter.
Chairman of the rugby union's judiciary committee John Mackay said the decision had been reserved and would be released this afternoon.
Greerton Marist president Terry Meredith said while bad behaviour was unacceptable, it was one of those things that could happen in the heat of the moment. Mr Meredith said his club had signs up at games about appropriate behaviour.
"In general, it's been better recently because of the better awareness of it. It's hard for us to control if an individual goes off the rocks."
Bay of Plenty referee George van den Anker, who was not at the game, said abuse came with the territory of being a referee.
"It's a bit of our time we set aside and do a good thing for our community and people but some people don't see it that way. I've known referees that have taken it to heart and don't do it anymore. We're short of referees as it is so that doesn't help."
Mr van den Anker is a former player and said when he decided to become a referee, he discovered he only knew half the game.
"They only know half the game like I did when I was playing."
