A man had to undergo emergency surgery after his eye was gouged out during a brawl at the Nag N' Noggin following the All Blacks test in New Plymouth on Saturday night.

A man had to undergo emergency surgery after his eye was gouged out during a bar fight following the All Blacks test in New Plymouth on Saturday night.

Detective Senior Sergeant Brent Matuku said emergency services were called to the Nag 'N' Noggin bar on Tukapa St about 10.15pm after a brawl broke out.

The Nag 'N' Noggin bar is about 500 metres away from Yarrow Stadium, where the All Blacks took on Argentina.

Google Police are investigating a bar brawl at Nag 'N' Noggin in New Plymouth, where a man had his eye ripped from its socket.

Matuku said it looked like there had been a "physical confrontation" between a group of males inside the premises before it escalated. Chairs from the pub appeared to have been used at some point during the fight, he said.

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During the melee, a 30-year-old man from Te Kuiti suffered a serious injury to his eye.

"He's had his eye ripped out of its socket. It's been gouged out," Matuku said.

The assault victim remained in Taranaki Base Hospital after the operation, where he is being supported by his wife. It is unknown at this time if the surgery had been a success.

Bar manager Suzy Cursons said it began as a verbal argument but quickly escalated into a physical assault.

"Someone said something to these guys and they took exception to it," she said.

Cursons said there were a lot of out of towners in the bar after the rugby and she had not seen the two groups involved in the brawl before.

She said the majority of people were well behaved and locals had stepped in to stop the melee.

"If there was a pub full of pissed people it could have turned into a full on brawl.

"It was all over in a couple of minutes."

Cursons said patrons helped clean up broken glass and look after the injured man after the fight, until police and paramedics arrived.

"I did see him sitting out there and other people told me it (his injuries) didn't look flash."

While it was a concern a stool had been used as a weapon Cursons said she had worked at the bar for about 20 years and there wasn't usually many problems with violence.

"We have maybe had two fights out there.

"I don't know that I've had to ring 111 for the police before."

Matuku said police are actively investigating the matter and are looking at CCTV footage from inside the bar.

Police had fielded about half a dozen calls from people about the incident, including from a man who was directly involved in the altercation.

He did not reside in the region but had agreed to talk to police about what had happened, Matuku said.

Anyone with information can call New Plymouth police station on 06 759 5500.