Brumbies send damage bill to NSW Waratahs coach Michael Cheika

As the ACT Brumbies prepare to send a $1089 damage bill to Cheika and the Waratahs for a broken glass door, SANZAR, Super Rugby's governing body, is investigating a complaint made by a South African broadcaster following an alleged verbal blow up in Durban.

The Waratahs lost a spiteful clash against the Durban Sharks on Sunday morning (AEDT).

It is alleged in the second half Cheika had a confrontation with a cameraman during the match at Kings Park Stadium.

It follows a frustrating trip to Canberra to play the Brumbies last month, with the Waratahs suffering their first defeat of the season at the hands of the Brumbies.

The glass door to the Waratahs' coaching box in the Mal Meninga Stand was splintered when Cheika exited in the dying seconds of the game against hte Brumbies, as the Waratahs lost the rivalry clash 28-23.

The Waratahs maintain the broken glass was an accident, saying Cheika pushed the door open and did not deliberately cause damage.

But the Brumbies will send a thousand dollar bill to their arch enemies on Thursday.

There is no footage of the door shattering when Cheika pushed the door open to leave the box and address his team after the match.

The Brumbies' decision to pass the costs on to the Waratahs will stoke the fiery rivalry between the teams.

Even former Brumbies coach and now Sharks mentor Jake White couldn't resist a chance to needle Cheika, after beating the Waratahs 32-10 in Durban.

White and Cheika traded verbal barbs when they were the respective Brumbies and Waratahs coaches last year.

"I just want to see if our coaches' box is still all right, because I have to get [chief executive John Smit] to get some insurance for it," White said.

"Hopefully it's not too damaged."

Cheika is a passionate coach who demands the best from his players.

It is alleged Cheika abused a South African cameraman in the second half of the loss to the Sharks.

SANZAR has confirmed there has been a complaint but would not comment.

Television broadcaster Super Sport lodged a complaint to match commissioner Piet Strydom.

"There was a confrontation with a cameraman, the coach objected to Super Sport filming him and he approached and abused him," a Super Sport spokesman said.

"A couple of choice words were used. Where Super Sport draws the line is being threatened."

Strydom, when contacted by Fairfax Media, said he had been called to the broadcaster's van after the match and told about the alleged exchange.

He took note of the incident and sent it to SANZAR, the organisers of Super Rugby, along with the match reports and disciplinary matters, on Monday morning.

Cheika was asked in the post-match media conference why he had walked down to the pitch.

He replied that he had wanted to get a message to his captain, Dave Dennis, who was serving 10 minutes in the sin bin.

"The Sharks captain was continually in the ear of the referee. When [referee Mike Fraser] came into the dressing room before the game and spoke to our captain he said 'don't come up and talk to me unless there's a point'," Cheika said on Saturday night.

"So I asked Dave to get involved there and say 'you can't keep talking to the referee all the time, we have to play'. The game was stopping far too much, there was too much talking around those things, which hurt us."