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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Dylan James

'Shut up and come here!' Referee loses it with scrum-half in televised match

A grassroots referee has become a big hit on social media as he laid down the law in emphatic fashion to a scrum-half who had a little too much to say.

After calling over the captain, the referee also summoned the mischievous number nine, who is not in the good books.

The referee said: "You! Come here. Shut up and come here. One more word out of you, and I'm just going to send you to the bin."

"Because, do you know what you could be? A good ref with all the knowledge you reckon you've got. Get back there, shut up, you've got the penalty, carry on".

You can watch the clip below.

The match was being televised and the commentary team were in stitches.

World Rugby referee Ben O'Keefe commented with clapping emojis in response.

Poneke themselves even replied, saying: "Ka rawe ('awesome' in Maori) refs we can't play without you", with the praise emoji.

The incident occurred in a match between Poneke FC and New Plymouth Old Boys Rugby Club (NPOB) in the New Zealand Barbarians under 85KG National Club Cup. NPOB were victorious on the day, but it's the referee who's getting all the limelight.

The competition itself is a unique one, in men's weight-restricted knockout rugby. The initiative was orchestrated by New Zealand Rugby themselves as an incentive to encourage participation at adult level and provide a pathway for secondary school players.

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