Brumbies vice captain and generally fairly excellent human being David Pocock has taken a stand against homophobia in rugby, following a clash against the Waratahs in Sydney over the weekend.
ABC News report that Pocock, a vocal supporter of marriage equality, approached the referee twice in the last 15 minutes of the game, upset about “pretty aggressive comments” from the Waratahs on the field.
It’s understood that a Waratahs forward used the word “faggot” when addressing two different Brumbies players in the second half, and following the complaints, the referee raised this with Waratahs vice captain Michael Hooper.
“I’m getting some pretty aggressive comments coming from your guys – that there are homophobic slurs [being made],” the referee told Hooper, who later responded “that’s rugby.”
“That’s not right,” Pocock later said. Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham said that the matter will be investigated more fully in the next few days, and that “we’ll have to talk to individuals.”
This incident marked an aggressive clash between the rival teams, with the Waratahs eventually winning the match 28-13.
Last November, Pocock was arrested after chaining himself to a digger in protest of a controversial coal mine in northern NSW.
Photo: Teaukura Moetaua via Getty Images
