Former All Blacks flyer Zac Guildford has been named as the man responsible for punching a woman in the face in a 2019 incident.
The 32-year-old had been sentenced to two years of intensive supervision in January by a Hamilton court.
The court denied Guildford's application for permanent name suppression and the 32-year-old subsequently lost an appeal to overturn the decision, New Zealand's Stuff website reported on Thursday.
Guildford, who was intoxicated at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty to an assault charge after punching the woman when sitting behind her in a car in Napier on 20 December 2019.
The victim - who now lives overseas - was forced to depart the next day, with her face covered in bruises and still has issues breathing through her nose.
"This was a savage blow delivered to an unsuspecting woman that caused significant injury," Judge Robert Spear said during the case.
"You could well have been charged with a more serious offence than this."
Guildford apologised to the woman and paid her NZ$3 000 in reparation at a "restorative justice conference" last year.
Guildford, who played 10 Test on the wing for the All Blacks between 2009 and 2012, has struggled with alcohol and mental health problems for large parts of his rugby career.
Most notably, in November 2011, Guildford was cited in Rarotonga where he was accused of drunken naked assaults during an alcohol-fuelled series of incidents.
"I'd like to apologise to the victim. I have done everything in my power to express my sincere apologies," he said.
"I'm ashamed of what happened ... it happened back in 2019 when I was going through a number of mental health and addiction challenges."
Guildford, also former Junior All Blacks, made his mark in the game playing Super Rugby for the Hurricanes (2008-2009) and Crusaders (2010-2014), before short stints at Clermont (2014-2015), the Waratahs (2016), Wairarapa Bush (2016), Waikato (2017) and Nevers in France (2018).
He was recently linked to the Super Rugby AU outfit the Western Force, but his latest controversy may throw a spanner in the works.