Hamilton police are appealing for information after a good samaritan was attacked by a woman he had gone to help early on Sunday.

The 38-year-old man went to help a woman who was shouting at another man at the south end of Victoria Street about 1.30am, Detective Sergeant Neville Ross of the Hamilton CIB said.

"When it looked like the man pushed the woman, our victim has crossed the street to check if she was OK, but when he told the man to leave her alone the woman has turned on him."

Mr Ross said a group of women then converged on the would-be rescuer, verbally abusing him as he tried to extract himself from the scene.

One of the women then punched him in the face and, as he pushed her away, a man punched him in the back of the head.

"Once on the ground the man has been given a kicking by the group, suffering serious facial injuries including severe bruising, the fracturing of both eye sockets and the breaking of his jaw."

A Waikato Hospital spokeswoman said the man was recovering in a general ward.

CCTV footage showed very little of what occurred and Mr Ross said he hoped witnesses would come forward to help identify the attackers.

The woman was described as Maori, about 20 years old, 1.64m tall, with long, brunette hair in a pony hair.

"The man she was thought to be arguing with was described as a Maori or Polynesian male aged in his early 20s, wearing jeans and a dress polo shirt," Mr Ross said.

The main offender was described as a Maori or Polynesian, about 1.83m tall, with a large, overweight build.

He had curly black hair and was wearing a yellow T-shirt, dress shoes and jeans.

- NZPA