The examples of violence in sport are everywhere.

Rugby has never been for the fainthearted and now, more than ever before, it is a game of brutal physical confrontations. But that can't justify what happened in Auckland last weekend during the meeting between old rivals New Zealand and Australia. All-Blacks golden boy . . . and probably the best rugby player in the world at the moment . . . Richie McCaw was 'speared' (thrown head first into the ground) by Aussie winger Lote Tuqiri. The tackle sparked outrage in New Zealand which is surprising given the 'so-what' Kiwi reaction when Brian O'Driscoll was speared by the All-Blacks last year, seriously injuring the Lions captain and putting him out of the entire tour.

But even more disturbing than the tackle was the decision of the Kiwis to reintroduce their controversial haka that involves a throat-slitting gesture. I know I'm in a minority, given the adoring cheers that greet the haka when it is performed at Lansdowne Road, but I've always been a bit queasy about the haka. Sure, it is part of what is a proud and unique Maori culture, and, in an increasingly homogenised world, should be cherished. But what place has an eye-popping, vein-bulging war dance got before a sporting contest?

In the London Times last year, sports writer Simon Barnes referred to three recent violent incidents involving New Zealand players . . . one in rugby league . . . and wrote: "If ever anything were designed to give its performers a feeling that they were part of a group with unique privileges in the world of violence, special people for whom the normal constraints do not apply, it is the haka."

But any queasiness about the haka turns to outright nausea at the new throatslitting version. The composer of the Kapa O Pango haka has claimed that the gesture was meant to represent the cutting edge of sport and the knife-edge that all the players were on. That, to put it bluntly, is a load of old tosh. A throat-slitting gesture is a throat-slitting gesture. It does exactly what it says on the throat. It has no place on a sporting field and sends out an appalling message to young, impressionable viewers.

Violent conduct is by no means confined to rugby or to international games. On Monday night, a former All Ireland medallist with Kerry had his jaw broken in two places in an off-the-ball incident in a club game. Sadly, such incidents are not isolated ones in gaelic games. On any given weekend in club matches across the country, there will be actions that could result in a prosecution if they occurred on the street. Even in high-profile county games, there are numerous examples of violence . . . many of which go completely unpunished due to a hopelessly inadequate rule book and disciplinary code.

The GAA is a great organisation, but one of its least appealing characteristics is the cult of the hard man. It was truly staggering to hear respected pundits bemoan the recent Mayo-Laois drawn game on the basis that there wasn't enough hits in it . . . that it was too free-flowing. Equally depressing was the reaction of many observers after the Cork-Waterford hurling semi-final that the Cork substitute who turned the game with a goal and a point should have been hit a few belts when he came on. For how long more is the neanderthal practice of a substitute being greeted by a thumping shoulder charge going to be tolerated? There was something amusing about the outrage from many in the GAA at the admittedly shocking violence in the compromise rules games last year . . . as if nothing of the like has ever been seen in football or hurling.

The reality, of course, is that the viewing public generally likes to see a flare-up in a game. One of the reasons for the early popularity of the compromise rules games in Ireland was the high likelihood of a major punch-up. For some reason, we view such violence differently when it occurs on a football pitch. The media is often just as guilty. Euphemisms such as 'schemozzle' or 'argy-bargy' or 'fisticuffs' or, most ridiculously, 'handbags' are used.

It is not totally unknown to read in sports reports about two players going at it 'man to man' . . . as if there was something admirable and noble about two players beating the daylights out of each other.

All of which makes the news that Greater Manchester Police will investigate Manchester City's Ben Thatcher for his challenge on Portsmouth player Pedro Mendes during Wednesday night's Premiership match so refreshing. Soccer is actually the sport that has been most vigilant about on-pitch violence. Every soccer player, from international superstar to the amateur playing in division Z of some district league, knows that if they raise their hand to strike an opponent they will be sent off. But, given human nature, even this uncompromising approach to discipline is not going to totally eradicate acts of violence. Hence the desirability of the police intervening when it witnesses something like Thatcher's appalling assault on Mendes.

A sports pitch should be no different from a bar, a nightclub, a place of work, the home or the street. It's not acceptable for anybody to draw their finger over their throat at someone or punch them or knock them unconscious with an elbow in everyday life and it shouldn't be tolerated, celebrated or ignored on a sports pitch either.