Captain Ardie Savea has apologised for threatening a Rebels player with a throat-slitting gesture after a heart-stopping Super Rugby Pacific win over Melbourne.
The Hurricanes edged a fearless Rebels outfit 39-33 in their Super Round clash at AAMI Park on Friday night, delivering another tight loss for the home side from two games.
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Savea was both hero and villain, scoring two early tries and setting up another as the visitors roared to a 24-7 halftime lead.
But then the All Blacks weapon was given a yellow card for his involvement in an all-in brawl just before break.
As he walked off, a fired-up Savea gestured to Melbourne halfback Ryan Louwrens, prompting teammate Reece Hodge to complain to referee James Doleman, 'he's threatening to kill him'.
It's unclear if Savea will face further penalties from SANZAAR.
Savea said he apologised to Louwrens and also had to answer to his father Masena, who called him immediately after the match.
"It's just the heat of the moment, it's a warrior game but I've got to lead by example, being skip, so I got that wrong," Savea told journalists.
"There was a bit of banter going on and it got the better of me.
"I got off the field and my old man called me and kind of growled me off so that's a lesson learnt.
"I understand the role I play with the kids watching the games ... it doesn't excuse what I did but we make mistakes and hopefully I grow and learn from it."
Savea was hopeful he would avoid further sanctioning for his actions.
“I’m not too sure, it’s out of my control,” Savea said.
“...I apologised in the post-game (and) I apologised to the player I did it to. It was just (the) heat of the moment. It’s a warrior game, but I have to lead by example and it’s something I need to learn from and keep growing.”
Despite the loss, Rebels coach Kevin Foote was proud of his group for their fightback after trailing 24-7 at halftime
“I just made it clear to our guys (at half-time) that they don’t come into our house (and do that)," Foote said on the incident. “We won’t tolerate that.”
"I'm so proud of this group - there was huge fight which is something we've been speaking about for a long time as a club and couldn't be prouder at this moment.
"We will take a lot of confidence from that."
