Kiwi living in Australia pleads guilty to abusing referee, family during Rugby World Cup

Referee Andrew Brace, Assistant referee Nika Amashukeli, and Assistant referee Chris Busby consult with the TMO Brian MacNiece during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between England and Samoa. Photo / Getty Images

A New Zealander living in Australia has pleaded guilty to abusing a match official at last year’s Rugby World Cup, held in France.

Aaron Isaia, who was born in New Zealand but lives in Brisbane, on Monday admitted to one count of using a carriage service to menace or harass via online communication.

The 22-year-old has escaped any conviction, but has been handed a $1000 good behaviour bond for 12 months.

Isaia was found to have sent messages to a referee during the tournament, notably in Samoa’s 18-17 defeat to England in Lille.

Samoan centre Tumua Manu was shown a yellow card in the final stages, before England’s win was sealed by a late try to halfback Danny Care.

And after pleading guilty in Beenleigh Magistrates Court, Isaia has become the first person to be found guilty in a landmark case focused on online abuse.

The extent of the messages sent to the official, TMO Brian MacNeice, were not revealed, but were understood to mention his wife and children.

World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin welcomed the conviction, as the first of its kind towards abusers of match officials.

“The vile and toxic abuse is an all too common occurrence for many sports men and women and public figures,” he said.

“We hope that this sends a very strong message to online trolls that such behaviour is totally unacceptable and that the sport and the authorities are prepared to take action.”

Isaia was identified by Signify Group, a digital firm engaged by World Rugby to monitor social media for abuse.

In particular, Signify Group made use of an Artificial Intelligence programme called Threat Matrix to identify any alleged abuse.

Throughout the World Cup, 1.3 million posts were monitored, with 54,000 identified as potentially containing abuse.