Otago signing Daniel Crichton was in the Dunedin District Court again yesterday, as he was involved in a second assault-related incident within the past four months.
Crichton was arrested by police on Saturday night and appeared on an assault charge yesterday morning. He was remanded without plea to July 19.
Crichton (25) faces a trial on July 25 after an incident in Dunedin on April 3. He has pleaded not guilty to three assault charges.
Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Reid said he had been made aware of the incident on Sunday morning.
He had spoken to and written a letter to the Rugby Players Association about the incident.
But as the case was before the court, the union would reserve its decision over any punishment for Crichton until the court case was completed.
He did not wish to comment on whether there would be an immediate penalty placed on Crichton, saying he needed more time to find out all the details of the incident.
The complainant in the latest incident was the same as for one of the charges from the incident in April.
Reid said it was always disappointing for such cases to appear.
The players had been told what was expected of them.
Crichton, a loose forward, ripped a hamstring in a club game for Pirates on July 2 and is expected to be out of rugby for four to six weeks.
He has yet to play a first-class game for Otago, after signing for the union late last year.
He had previously played for Tasman, Auckland and Counties-Manukau and for New Zealand age-group teams.
