Wellington Lions say sorry to Losi Filipo's victims

Wellington Lions say sorry to Losi Filipo's victims

The head coach of the Wellington Lions has apologised to the victims of ex-team member Losi Filipo, denouncing violence "toward anyone, especially women".

Mr Filipo, 18, had his contract with the Lions cancelled by mutual agreement on Tuesday after Newshub revealed he'd been given a discharge without conviction for a brutal assault on four people.

It was also revealed a number of high-profile members of the rugby community, as well as Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy, had written letters to the court in support of Mr Filipo.

Wellington Rugby said when it did so, it gave "generic information" about what a conviction might mean for him and admitted it didn't know the full details of the case.

Coach Earl Va'a addressed reporters for the first time on Thursday following a training session ahead of Friday's match against Southland.

"On behalf of the Wellington Lions coaching staff, our management and players I'd like to sincerely apologise to the victims involved in this assault for their hurt and anguish that you and your families have had to endure over the past year.

"What happened is not a representation of what anyone in our team stands for and as a father, a member of the community and head coach of the Wellington Lions, I'd like to express my disappointment at the actions of the player involved - they were quite simply unacceptable.

"Violence toward anyone, especially women, cannot be tolerated in our society."

He said the team had been "deeply affected" by Mr Filipo's case and the fallout, but Mr Va'a said they were "innocent parties in all of this".

Mr Va'a said this week was "definitely" his hardest as coach of the team so far.

"[It's] been quite a learning curve."

He got to know Mr Filipo "quite well", having kept tabs on his career during school days and also as part of the wider Lions team.

Asked whether the scandal would affect the team's performance at Westpac Stadium on Friday, Mr Va'a said they'd only know that after the game was over.

The public outrage put Wellington Rugby and New Zealand Rugby under intense pressure.

Late on Tuesday afternoon Wellington Rugby and Mr Filipo announced they'd parted ways, and in an interview with Paul Henry on Wednesday, NZR boss Steve Tew promised to call the victims to apologise.

Solicitor-General Una Jagose is now looking into the case, prompted by a letter from Family First.

The four victims are still keen to seek justice through the courts, and are interested to see what the Solicitor-General decides about an appeal.

Newshub.