This article originally appeared on Stuff and is reproduced with permission.
All Blacks captain Sam Cane says he was ‘deeply disappointed in himself’ after he stuck out a foot and tripped a fan who ran onto the field after the Rugby Championship test match in Mendoza on Sunday morning.
Cane was standing with his All Blacks team-mates after the 41-12 win over the Pumas at Estadio Mavinas Argentinas when the pitch invader ran past him.
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The openside flanker then poked out a boot that resulted in the person hitting the turf, before quickly getting back to his feet. A person dressed in black continues to chase the person.
“Tonight after the game I made an error in judgement which was totally out of character for me,” Cane wrote on social media after the game.
“I am really sorry. I feel awful and am deeply disappointed in myself. I am trying really hard to make contact with the person involved to apologise for my actions and make things right.”
The sight of fans running onto rugby fields is not uncommon, but players rarely become involved in trying to stop them.
The most famous example of players becoming embroiled with a fan happened when the All Blacks played the Springboks in Durban in 2002.
On that occasion a portly Springboks fan charged onto King’s Park to grab and remonstrate with Irish referee David McHugh as a scrum was being set in front of 52,000 fans.
Players from both teams immediately grabbed the spectator, Pieter van Zyl, and wrestled him to the ground. Chris Jack and Richie McCaw led the charge for the All Blacks.
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McHugh had to leave the field with a dislocated shoulder.
Van Zyl, 43 at the time, was later banned by the South African Rugby Union from attending any matches under their control. He was fined 3000 rand and charged with assault to do grievous bodily harm and trespassing.
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