The young Wests Tigers prop headbutted by Jared Waerea-Hargreaves labelled the Roosters enforcer a “grub”, and admitted to poking fun at the fiery front-rower’s age when tempers flared.

Stefano Utoikamanu went toe to toe with Waerea-Hargreaves on Saturday night before the Roosters prop was sin-binned and later suspended three matches for striking.

Waerea-Hargreaves, 34, pleaded guilty to striking 23-year-old Utoikamanu, but is due to front the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night to challenge the grading of a dangerous contact charge involving a high tackle on Api Koroisau.

“I saw him do that hit on Api and I got angry,” Utoikamanu said. “Api’s our captain, and I tried to have his back. I know Jared is a nice bloke off the field, but he’s a bit of a grub on the field. I wanted to get into him a bit.

“I might have said something [about his age], calling him ‘old’, but I didn’t mean it. I tried to get into his head. He split himself because he headbutted my tooth. That’s how he got the cut on his head.

“If he wants to go [next time], I don’t care, I’ll go. When it comes to my teammates, I’ll always have their back, especially Api, he’s our captain – you need to have his back even more.”

Tigers prop David Klemmer welcomed Utoikmanau’s physicality, and said: “Young Stef was looking after his skipper, we all came in, it escalated, but he held his own. I’m proud of him. Taking on Jared, he’s a big warhorse, so good on Stef.

“I’ve played against Jared most of my career. You always know you’re up for a battle, and you better pack your mouthguard every time you play against him.”