Schoolboy rugby: King’s College apologises for ‘genuine mistake’ after broadcaster Duncan Garner’s cheating claims

A Kings College fan and broadcaster Duncan Garner (inset).

King’s College has apologised for fielding an over-age player in an Auckland Under-14A rugby match against Mt Albert Grammar last Saturday.

And this admission of being at fault has defused feisty allegations of cheating made by a high-profile broadcaster.

King’s were victors on the pitch in the Under-14 match but later defaulted the match, as is shown on Auckland Rugby’s fixtures and results webpage.

The incident was sensationalised by broadcaster Duncan Garner – whose son Buster plays in the Mt Albert Grammar team – on his Editor In Chief podcast, where he accused King’s of “cheating” and proceeded to argue for them to be kicked out of the winter competition.

But King’s headmaster Simon Lamb said they had fielded just one over-age player, it was “a genuine mistake” and the college regretted the error, while Mt Albert Grammar headmaster Patrick Dunn said the matter was now resolved.

It was an illustration of the sensitivities that can be triggered even at lower levels in schoolboy rugby.

On a podcast episode entitled “Who are the real plonkers: Air NZ, Booze brands, or King’s College?”, Garner this week climbed into King’s College as home to “the children of the uber-rich and famous and elite” before reporting they had been caught cheating in an U14 rugby match between two mid-table teams chasing a top-four spot.

He said Mt Albert Grammar players recognised King’s players as being over-age and a protest was subsequently lodged.

King’s, Garner said, “were guilty of stacking their side with boys from other older teams in an attempt to beat us – which they did. This is not sour grapes. This is cheating”.

“It has no place in sport and they have rightly been pinged.”

He also argued there was a safety issue with inserting older players into a young-age competition and questioned the ethics of team management and parents who he believed would have been well aware of the age issue.

The U14A division is not a weight-restricted league.

“It is so rank and so wrong I think King’s need to be kicked from the competition.”

But in a statement, Lamb explained that due to injuries and player unavailability, the King’s U14 coach needed to call additional players into his squad.

“Unfortunately, one of these players, who played half a game, was too old for the U14s,” he said.

“This was a genuine mistake and King’s regrets the error. After our head of sport learned of this situation, he contacted MAGs and the rugby authorities first thing on Monday to admit the error, to forfeit the points and to apologise.”

A statement forwarded on behalf of Dunn said the matter was now resolved, with the result amended.

“As a school we enjoy a strong relationship with King’s College both on and off the sports field,” he said.

“We are comfortable with both the process and outcome here and our boys are looking forward to heading out onto the rugby field for their next fixture.”

College Sport Auckland chief executive Mark Barlow said no complaint had been received about the match.

“An incident that occurred during the game has been dealt with by the headmasters of the two schools,” Barlow said. “King’s College has defaulted the game.”