Referee Ashley Klein and his match officials were forced to take cover as bottles and cans were thrown at them by furious spectators following the final whistle of a National Rugby League semi-final in New Zealand. The ugly scenes unfolded after Newcastle Knights secured a dramatic 12-10 victory over New Zealand Warriors at Auckland's Eden Park, with the visitors booking their place in the NRL's preliminary finals for the first time since 2013.
Controversial decisions spark crowd fury
Two pivotal decisions went against the Warriors in the dying moments of the match. In the 79th minute, Warriors centre Leka Halasima was felled off the ball by Knights prop Tyson Frizell as he prepared to challenge for a high kick. The crowd expected a penalty that would have allowed the Warriors to level the scores and send the game to a 'Golden Point'.
Despite replays appearing to show fairly conclusive evidence, Klein waved away the incident, leaving a record crowd of 48,500 seeing red. That decision followed bunker official Chris Butler declining to overturn a call as Warriors' Te Maire Martin was penalised for a strip that may have been a loose carry. Butler had moments earlier reversed a Knights knock-on.
Officials shielded as they leave the pitch
The divisive ending resulted in Klein and his match officials being met with a cacophony of boos and jeers as they left Eden Park. But they could not escape without fans launching cans and bottles towards them as they attempted to make their way into the depths of the stadium.
Security staff and stewards were compelled to step in to shield the refereeing squad from flying objects, as the officials covered their heads and beat a swift retreat down the tunnel.
Coaches react to the result
Warriors boss Andrew Webster acknowledged that the eleventh-hour decisions that counted against his outfit were "frustrating", but insisted they weren't the deciding factor in his team's loss. "It was frustrating," he said. "I feel like they were trying to find ways to take it off us."
"The last one, and two points would have drawn the game, he's [Frizell] going across Leka, pretending to try and catch the ball, which they [NRL] have told us you can't do." Knights boss Justin Holbrook had no issues, however. "I thought they were all right," he said post-match. "I thought he stripped it with his hand and ripped it like that," he offered when asked about the strip.
The Knights will now progress to take on Penrith in the preliminary final at Sydney's Accor Stadium next weekend.
