At the end of the match between the Blue Bulls and Griquas in Kimberley, the referee, Willie Roos, became the object of a spectator's wrath - apparently - after the Blue Bulls won the match 25-24 in the last minute.

As he was leaving the field for the change room a spectator is said to have flung a "black" liquid from a glass at him, which was presumed to have been brandy and Coke.

Roos's two assistants, Matt Kemp and Marc van Zyl, and others grabbed the irate man and handed him over to security who, apparently, were not upset at the action and  let him go.

André Watson, the manager of South African referees is angered by the incident and has reported the matter to SARU's president, Oregan Hoskins, who has demanded  strong and urgent action, seeing it in the same light as Piet van Zyl's attack on Dave McHugh in Durban a while back.

Watson said that such an incident did the name of rugby no good at all and, if strong action were not taken, could lead to a worse form of violence against a referee. He could not understand how an unauthorised person could get as close to a referee as this man did.

The investigation would require reports from the union, the company responsible for security and the match officials on the day.

In an even sadder incident, this time at a schools match in Roodepoort, the Springbok flank, Ian MacDonald, is reported to have hit a touch judge after Monument beat Noordheuwel, the school MacDonald's son apparently attends, and as a result a charge of assault has been laid against MacDonald.