Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder says racial abuse of winger Nemani Nadolo is disappointing and shouldn't be tolerated by anyone.
Nadolo, whose power on the left wing was a key factor in taking the Crusaders to last Saturday's Super Rugby final, took to Twitter to outline his frustration.
"After all I've done to contribute to tis lovely city of christchurch to be called a UN FIT CHUBBY N***A is disappointing #hurtful," the Fijian-born winger said.
It's believed the abuse came when he was drinking with teammates at a bar in Christchurch on Sunday evening.
Blackadder told AAP that Nadolo didn't tell anybody about the abuse at the time but went straight home, from where he tweeted about 2.50am.
"It was just an idiot, someone from the general public made some pretty degrading and derogatory racial slurs," Blackadder said.
"It's always really disappointing. These things really hurt and shouldn't be condoned or tolerated by anyone."
Blackadder says Nadolo's decision not to react or tell his teammates reflected well on him, as the incident potentially could have escalated otherwise.
He said Nadolo had moved on and had forgiven his abuser.
Former Blues player Ben Atiga replied on Twitter that "one of my first outings there was quite similar", but Blackadder said the abuser's views and actions weren't typical.
"You'd find 99.99 per cent of our city and our fans would never use that language, or tolerate it," he said.
"These comments do not reflect the wonderful people of Canterbury and Christchurch."
Nadolo later added "Thank u 2 all 4 the kind tweets. whatever has been said is said. I'm just blessed 2 b here. not gonna let one person ruin it. #movingon".
Blackadder said the team wanted to retain Nadolo for the next couple of years and negotiations were going well but he hadn't re-signed as yet.
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