Samoa rugby legend Brian Lima faces criminal charges after allegedly assaulting his former wife in public last week, leaving her with serious facial injuries, reports said on Thursday.
Lima, 41, who played in the 2008 Hong Kong Tens and was inducted into the International Rugby Board Hall of Fame in 2011, is accused of attacking Sina Retzlaff late last week, reported the Samoa Observer.
In a widely-cited report accompanied by a photograph of Retzlaff with two black eyes and a stitched cut on her nose, the newspaper said Lima had been charged with causing actual bodily harm and being armed with a dangerous weapon.
Lima, known as "The Chiropractor" because of his crunching tackles, earned 65 test caps for Samoa and is the only player to have appeared at five Rugby World Cups, had his travel documents seized and was ordered not to contact Retzlaff, according to the Observer.
Retzlaff, who was divorced from Lima two years ago, told the newspaper that domestic violence was a universal problem.
"It doesn't have any boundaries in terms of culture or religion. It can happen to anyone and I believe it does happen to women from all walks of life," she said.