Chiefs fullback Bruce Reihana has been identified as the player who punched Blues lock Glenn Taylor in a bar-room incident at a Cape Town hotel shared by the two Super 12 rugby teams in South Africa last week.
Chiefs and Waikato Rugby Union chief executive Gary Dawson said it was best
for the union and Reihana that the people involved were named.
"It was Bruce Reihana, and pretty much everyone knows that so we figured it was best to get that out in the open," he said.
"Otherwise it will just drag on and there will be continued speculation which could wrongly be directed at other players."
Dawson said it was surprising such an incident involved Reihana, who had no record of such behaviour.
"This is totally out of character for Bruce and we're very disappointed about it.
"It was not Glenn Taylor's fault, there was no provocation on his part and there is no blame on him at all."
Dawson said it was an isolated incident which got out of hand. He understood it started with a bit of "skylarking and scuffling that escalated."
The incident apparently arose after Reihana was teased.
Chiefs manager Steve Gilbert said the incident was only "80 per cent" as bad as it had been made out to be.
"We were unhappy and very disappointed. We've referred the incident to the NZRFU [New Zealand Rugby Football Union] and they have taken the appropriate action.
"We in no way condone or accept this sort of behaviour."
While the NZRFU, as Reihana's employer, continued its policy of refusing to make public any punitive action taken against the player, Dawson said he was satisfied by the measures taken. - NZPA
