All Black drama of handbags at dawn

The woman with her cellphone and handbag. Picture / Simon Baker

Patrons at a Christchurch bar say they watched in disbelief as former All Black captain Tana Umaga struck a teammate in the head with a woman's handbag.

Umaga is said to have hit Hurricanes teammate and All Black Chris Masoe in response to Masoe allegedly attacking a bar patron at The Jolly Poacher tavern between 6.30am and 8am yesterday.

The pair were among a group of Hurricanes out drinking after their 19-12 loss to the Crusaders in the Super 14 rugby final in Christchurch on Saturday night.

Witnesses said the blow to Masoe was hard enough to smash a cellphone in the handbag belonging to a Christchurch woman spoken to by the Herald. They said Masoe broke into tears after the blows from Umaga, and was ridiculed by onlookers.

Jolly Poacher management said Hurricanes players had been at the tavern, but general manager Nick Allison denied anything happened like that reported by witnesses.

A patron, who asked not be named, told the Herald he was drinking at the bar when Masoe walked past and appeared to trip over his leg.

"As he went over, Umaga came over and he was behind him and he fell into it. And as that happened Chris turned around, because he thought I must have done it on purpose, and reached over and just gave me a bit of a hook. Tana pulled him away from me to the bar."

The patron said he then saw Umaga pick up a woman's handbag and "started whacking Masoe with it".

He believed both Umaga and Masoe were "hammered", but admitted he was drunk himself. He had not decided whether to make an official complaint against Masoe.

The owner of the handbag said Umaga picked it up and "then smacked the other guy around the head with it".

"It was like he was trying to tell him off for being stupid. It was really weird."

About 20 minutes later, when she grabbed her phone out, she found the face plate smashed and she could not read a text message.

Another bar patron, Scott, said he saw Umaga pick up a handbag and strike Masoe twice.

"When that happened, Masoe burst into tears and created a bit of a scene at the bar. A female bouncer came in and managed to get [Masoe and Umaga] to leave. A lot of people jumped up and were ready for a full-on brawl to break out."

Scott, who asked that his surname not be published, said it appeared Umaga was reacting to the way Masoe had acted.

"It looked more like ... an angry mother smacking a naughty child kind of thing. It wasn't to give harm but to get a message across. There was obviously a bit of force behind it, to break the cellphone."

Hurricanes manager Garry Carnachan said he would not have the opportunity to address the allegations with the players until today.

The Hurricanes are understood to be seeking any relevant camera footage from the tavern.