An emotional Lukhan Tui sensationally told Wallabies teammates on Saturday evening he did not want to play football for the rest of the year after he was involved in an ugly altercation with a fan as tempers boiled over following a disastrous Australian loss to the Pumas on the Gold Coast.
Shortly after full-time in a match Australia lost 23–19, television cameras showed footage of a fan verbally abusing Tui and a number of other Wallabies players who were still on the ground.
Footage shows Tui and the fan confronting each other after the man was understood to have pushed the Australian back-rower's sister in the lead-up to the incident.
A Rugby Australia spokesperson said the matter was being investigated and that while police did not arrest the man involved, his details and another fan's have been taken in the aftermath of an altercation. Security guards detained the two men.
Tui's stepfather passed away suddenly on Wednesday and it is understood he was very close with him.
After an emotional week for Tui, Cheika said his player wanted some time away from the game.
"[It got] to a point where the player is in the dressing room [saying] he’s not going to be playing anymore because of that incident," Cheika said. "I hope the fan is happy.
Asked to clarify what Tui had said, Cheika replied: "He’s not going to play and he needs a rest. That’s a pretty heavy thing to happen. He just said it in the dressing room to players now off the back of a very difficult dressing room. It’s not what you want to have."
A Wallabies spokesperson clarified that Tui asked to have the rest of the year off and it understood Cheika is trying to persuade him to change his mind.
Cheika said the fan overstepped the mark and that he could understand why Tui got so upset.
"I don’t think that’s appropriate that that happened," Cheika said. "I get the discontent and you own that; words, abuse comes sometimes, that’s the way it is. You have to suck it up when you don’t play well and own that. He pushed the younger sister and Lukhan didn’t like that and that’s fair enough considering everything that’s happened to him this week.
"You shouldn’t be pushing a kid in the crowd."
The Wallabies wore black armbands for the match in which Tui played a full 80 minutes.
Midfielder Reece Hodge was being interviewed by Fox Sports’ Rod Kafer when the pair noticed a man yelling behind them at players.
by SMH.com.au
This is a terrible way to end the season. Tui has been one of the standout Wallabies and players in the RC, and his decision is untimely news for an under fire Cheika. That "fan" should receive a lifetime ban.
