Referee abuse forces shutdown of Wellington club rugby

Wellington Rugby has cancelled all rugby this weekend following ongoing referee abuse.

The move follows a decision by the Wellington Rugby Referees Association (WRRA) to withdraw their services from all of this weekend's matches following another three incidents of abuse on Saturday.

The Wellington Rugby Union (WRFU) met with club chairs on Monday night and have decided to cancel all games from 10-12 July.

A statement from WRFU chief executive Tony Giles said the clubs were united in supporting the match officials.

"The clubs were unanimous in their support of zero tolerance toward referee abuse and are motivated to ensure the integrity of our officials and our game are upheld to the highest standard," Giles said.

"To that end, WRFU have made the decision with support of its members to cancel all rugby for this coming weekend."

The cancellation comes as Wellington prepares to host the All Blacks' second Nations Championship test against Italy on Saturday night, creating the unusual spectacle of the sport's biggest stars taking the field while community rugby across the region is at a standstill because of abuse directed at referees.

Giles said Wellington Rugby was meeting with the referees on Tuesday night to discuss how they can best support the officials. That is expected to include changes to how incidents of abuse are reported and recorded.

The WRRA told Wellington Rugby last week that if any further referee abuse was reported this season, it would not appoint referees to games the following weekend.

The WRRA has received 19 reports of verbal abuse towards referees in Wellington this season. Wellington Rugby has hosted about 2300 games so far this year.

RNZ understands eight of the incidents involved players, five involved coaches or team support staff and the rest involved spectators.

New Zealand Rugby general manager of community participation and development Mike Hester said the governing body supported the WRRA's call to withdraw referees' services from this weekend's games.

"New Zealand Rugby is deeply disappointed that the actions of a small number of individuals during the community rugby season have led to the cancellation of this weekend's matches in Wellington.

"We fully support the decision of the Wellington Referees Executive Committee to prioritise the wellbeing of their officials."

Hester said referees were doing their best and should never be subjected to intimidation.

"Abuse in any form has no place in our communities, whether at work, in study or in sport, and rugby is no exception. Our game is built on respect, and we all have a responsibility to protect and promote that principle."

Hester said NZR was working with provincial unions to monitor and address referee abuse.

All scheduled round-robin fixtures in Wellington will be recorded as a 'Match Not Played' and both teams will receive 3 competition points each.

The U85kg final will be rescheduled for 18 July, while arrangements for the Premier Men and Premier 2 Men's playoff matches are still being worked through.

College rugby is largely unaffected with no play scheduled this weekend.

The season will continue as scheduled next weekend with club finals to be held at Porirua Park on 25 July.