NRL investigates after referee Ashley Klein pelted with rubbish at Eden Park

Fans at Eden Park pelted referee Ashley Klein with bottles, cups and other rubbish on Sunday after Newcastle's 12-10 win over the Warriors, footage showed. The NRL has opened an investigation into the incident.

Vision from after full-time showed Klein being struck by a raft of bottles, cups and rubbish as he walked from the field and having to be protected by security while fans abused him and projectiles rained down. An Integrity Unit investigator had been at the ground.

Auckland police confirmed no arrests were made and said there were "no issues to note" other than two pitch invaders.

Sunday’s crowd of 48,511 was the largest ever for a rugby league match in New Zealand after the NRL moved the fixture from Mt Smart.

The fan abuse followed two contentious late decisions that went against the Warriors, including the decision not to penalise Tyson Frizell for an escort in the dying minutes and a bunker strip call on Te Maire Martin. Warriors coach Andrew Webster said: "The last one, two points would have drawn the game, he is going across Leka, pretending to try and catch the ball which they’ve told us you can’t do,".

Warriors great Shaun Johnson described the reaction as "embarrassing" on Sky NZ’s coverage and said: "It leaves a bit of a sour taste in your mouth, what has been an unbelievable night with the colours, the energy, the happiness and celebration," "But there is just no need for it. It’s just embarrassing. "Ashley Klein has probably refereed the best game of rugby league I have seen in a long time tonight. He didn’t take any gamesmanship in terms of people laying down. He didn’t let people approach him whinging. "He didn’t make the game about him. He let the players come and play and they dictated the outcome."

The incident followed an episode in the AFL where umpires had cans thrown at them while leaving the MCG after Hawthorn’s tight loss to Brisbane in Saturday night’s preliminary final; the AFL condemned the behaviour and warned of minimum five-year bans for any fans found responsible.

The NRL has launched an investigation into potential breaches of their spectators’ code of conduct. ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys said: "If found guilty, they will be banned for a period of time from attending NRL games,".