Japan star Amanaki Mafi avoids conviction for assault on former teammate
Star Japan loose forward Amanaki Mafi has avoided a conviction for attacking a former teammate after making a NZ$50,000 payment to him.
The 29-year-old’s case was called into the Dunedin District Court on Tuesday in his absence where a guilty plea was entered to one count of assaulting former Wallabies loose forward Lopeti Timani with intent to injure.
Judge John MacDonald granted a discharge without conviction and stated that it should not be suggested that Mafi had “somehow bought [his] way out of a conviction”.
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The case stems from the night following the Melbourne Rebels’ 43-37 defeat at the hands of the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium on July 14 last year, in a loss which ended the Australian side’s hopes of qualifying for the Super Rugby play-offs.
Mafi and Timani, who grew up together in Tonga and were teammates at the Rebels, went to a South Dunedin home following the match, where the pair drank into the early hours of the morning with Mafi’s family members.
By 4am, the pair were intoxicated, and Mafi proceeded to challenge Timani to a fight after the 12-test Wallaby used what the 27-test Japan international believed to be an offensive word in front of a female relative.
New Zealand Rugby has created an environment where people will be happy to see new All Blacks head coach Ian Foster fail, writes @HamishBidwell.https://t.co/HBDPv3g4OA
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 17, 2019
Both players scuffled before being separated by others in attendance, before Timani fled the scene in fear of his own safety.
He hid in bushes at the nearby Bathgate Park, but was found by Mafi, who repeatedly punched Timani in the head and “escorted” him into the back of an awaiting vehicle.
Timani eventually escaped the four-hour ordeal after managing to flee the vehicle while it was stopped at a traffic light.
Photos which revealed the extent of Timani’s injuries surfaced in Australian media shortly afterward, with the 29-year-old telling the Sydney Morning Herald last year that he thought he was “going to die” during the assault.
@telegraph_sport backpage splashing with the horrific injuries suffered by @MelbourneRebels star Lopeti Timani after allegedly being attacked by @SuperRugby teammate Amanaki Mafi last weekend. https://t.co/OWM1KXzUNA pic.twitter.com/mY6PXipBi8
— Tim Morrissey (@timmorrissey) July 17, 2018
Mafi, who played for the Tokyo-based Sunwolves in this year’s Super Rugby campaign, admitted to the beating and said he had become “enraged” by his teammates coarse language, but Judge Macdonald described his actions as “an extreme overreaction”.
Both he and Timani, who now plies his trade in France with La Rochelle, were fined A$15,000 each by the Rebels for breaching team protocol.
In a victim impact statement, Timani said the assault has significantly affecting him both physically and emotionally.
He said he believed the ordeal, and the “concussive symptoms” stemming from it, could have shortened his playing career by a year.
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Judge MacDonald said the injuries Timani sustained from the event – which included swelling to the base of his skull and neck – took six months to resolve, while his concussion also impacted his ability to play rugby for six months.
The Crown’s lawyer, Robin Bates, acknowledged that a conviction could have led to the termination of his Japanese rugby contract, and although MacDonald did not know the exact terms of Mafi’s contract, he understood it to be “significant, if not substantial”.
MacDonald said that Mafi’s offending was “moderately serious”, but noted that it was his first time before the courts, and that he was clearly remorseful for his actions.
Consequently, Mafi has been ordered to pay NZ$50,000, which includes Timani’s A$15,000 fine and NZ$20,000 in medical expenses.
A letter of apology will also be passed onto the victim.
Mafi was selected in Japan’s World Cup squad in September, and played in two matches at the tournament, including the Brave Blossoms’ defeat to eventual champions South Africa in their maiden appearance in the competition’s quarter-final.
Timani, meanwhile, hasn’t represented Australia since November 2017.
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Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments