Two a penny

.

A rugby referee has been king-hit by a spectator holding a baby, after a controversial end to a game in Auckland.

The attack happened during a Samoan United Rugby Shield game between the Auckland Eagles and Laulii Liona at Williams Park in Mangere at the weekend.

Tournament organiser Moe Mata’afa said the event happened after the Eagles scored the winning try in injury time before one of the Laulii players made a late tackle.

Auckland rugby referees manager Mike Elliott confirmed the incident and said it was being investigated by the disciplinary committee.

Mr Mata’afa said that, soon after, as the referee stood in the officials’ tent talking to some of the players, the man – understood to be a spectator – entered the tent and punched the referee from behind.

As the referee spoke with the Laulii captain after he awarded the Eagles a penalty, he was allegedly abused by one of the Laulii team’s support staff and ended the game. . The man then fled…”

“But it wasn’t a real [bad punch] because he had a baby in one hand. they were talking to him in the tent and someone just from nowhere punched the referee.

Mr Mata’afa said they had called police but the unidentified man had already fled.”

He believed the incident was sparked by the referee’s decision to end the game won by the Eagles 14-12, early.

The tournament is played following the regular rugby season and consists of teams made up by players from the same villages in Samoa.

He said the incident was the first of its kind in the tournament’s six-year history.

Mr Elliott said the referee had not suffered any serious injuries and would referee again this weekend.

It was made up of Auckland and Counties Manukau club and secondary school rugby players.”

Otahuhu Senior Sergeant Laurie Culpan confirmed the assault but said they had not located the offender.

“We would like to find the culprit but a member of the public is pretty hard to find when they disappear into the woodwork.

Mr Culpan said since it was not a serious assault, the enquiries were being left to the Auckland Rugby Union, with police to act on any information provided by them.

“Police were called but obviously by the time we got there the spectator had disappeared, which is fairly common for these sort of things,” he said.”

He said the rugby union had measures they could take such as bans on individuals or standing clubs down in order to get the person to come forward.

“As you can imagine from our perspective, everybody’s gone, there are that many lines of inquiry for a minor assault, it would chew an inordinate amount of police time.

.

Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele has attacked news media for claiming tsunami aid to his country was being misused.

He challenged media to go to the scene and see for themselves.

But as he made the claim Porirua College’s head of Pacific Studies has questioned what happened to aid they gave to tsunami damaged villages.

“The only stories you are sending overseas are bad, unfounded stories.

According to the Samoa Observer, Tuilaepa said there were many “under-educated journalists” in Samoa.

He denied aid relief rorts were taking place and challenged the media to go and see. I urge your journalist association to form a special council to rule the reports by these boys and girls who write these make up stories,” the prime minister said.

“Stop relying on statements from the government.

He blamed the rain for delays in aid reaching the damaged southern coast. You go see,” he said.

“Some houses are up.

“The rainy season is here, the people fixing roads should look at fixing roads because of the dirt,” he said. . But others should begin this week.

The principals of both colleges cancelled planned trips and went shopping to spend funds on buying kitchenware necessities, such as knives, forks, plates, bowls, bush knives, pots, saucepans, and food.

The principals of both colleges cancelled planned trips and went shopping to spend funds on buying kitchenware necessities, such as knives, forks, plates, bowls, bush knives, pots, saucepans, and food.

“We were about to distribute the materials, to about 10 or 12 families when a senior government official arrived and asked us to take our donation to their village council committee who were allocating gifts to the village,” Aliimuamua wrote.

They travelled to Lalomanu to give it to the worst affected village.”

Their gift was not distributed however.

“We told him we would like to give our cash money to the Red Cross for distribution, but he was very convincing that the best way to go about distribution of our meaalofa (gift) is through the village committee, which we didn’t mind in the end.

“He hesitated as if not sure of anything and said, ‘Some materials have been given to the victims, but not the money, we are waiting until all donations had been received before we dish it out to the victims and then thanked everyone in the newspaper and let us know’.

“When I left on 12th October, I met the government official at the airport, I asked him if they had distributed our meaalofa, so far we haven’t heard of what happened or had seen any report in the paper about it.

. ”

Aliimuamua said they “hope that our gifts have been distributed already to all the Lalomanu families of tsunami victims as we wanted to help them

.
Warship docks after Gulf duties

on HMNZS Te Mana Monday, 08 September 2008

/The
DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL: Ingrid Gerritsen, 7, greets her father, Commander Blair Gerritsen, aboard the warship Te Mana, which docked after five months in the Persian Gulf as part of Enduring Freedom, a multinational operation to defeat the Taleban in Afghanistan.

Frontline warship Te Mana has suffered potentially life-shortening damage after five months sailing in the sandstorm-swept Arabian Gulf. The nearly $700 million Anzac frigate returned to Devonport yesterday after five months in the Gulf as part of Enduring Freedom, a multinational operation to defeat the Taleban in Afghanistan.
Its Seasprite helicopter was also sandblasted, with avionics, blades and engines showing signs of damage.
"We prepared as best we could by improving all the air-conditioning performance on board.
Te Mana, which was launched in 1997, now needed to go into scheduled maintenance, Commander Blair Gerritsen told The ."
Crew were astonished at how sand infiltrated much of the ship and the helicopter. At the end of the day, you've got to operate there and put up with the conditions.
It did not rain while they were in the Gulf and crew had fought a running battle to keep sand out. Its main radar bearings have heavy sand buildup, limiting the radar's range, and the ship's weapon systems must now be cleaned.
When the ship was washed, the runoff looked like mud. Their first real chance was on the way home, when they ran into monsoon rains going into Mumbai, India.
The extent of the problem is unlikely to be known till engineers have investigated the interior, but experts on board say the ship's operational life may have been shortened. Even the helicopter engines produced "sewage-looking water".
"Welcome home and enjoy tomorrow when you embrace family and friends and those you love.
Navy chief Admiral David Ledson flew to the ship near Waitangi to give each member of the company a general service medal and the Afghanistan medal in recognition of their role in Enduring Freedom."
The ship sailed into Devonport yesterday to a Father's Day welcome. We can all take a great deal of pride in a job well done. They ran up to the flightdeck, where Commander Gerritsen hugged them for the first time in five months. First on board for a tearful hug from dad were Commander Gerritsen's children Liam, 5, and Ingrid, 7.
On the dock a crowd of about 400 had turned up to welcome friends and family home.
"I've been looking forward to this," he said.