School rugby brawl being investigated

PALMERSTON NORTH - A high school rugby match in Palmerston North that turned into a brawl involving players and supporters is being investigated by authorities.

Saturday's premier third grade game between Palmerston North Boys' High School Stormers and Dannevirke High School's 2nd 15 at Coronation Park was called off minutes before fulltime when spectators joined a fight between players.

It is understood that spectators from both sides were involved.

The Manawatu Rugby Referees' Association is waiting for a report from the match referee.

The report will be sent to the Manawatu Rugby Union judicial committee, which has the power to ban both players and spectators for misconduct.

However, Manawatu Rugby Union spokesman Mark Dinsdale said it was hard to secure a ban for a large-scale fight as it could be hard to determine who did what.

Dinsdale said in high school games the union preferred schools to act, as talking to the individuals concerned was more constructive than the union imposing a ban.

Referees' association secretary Norm Thomas said the referee concerned didn't see what caused the fight.

The report stated that spectators were involved in the incident, but did not specify which supporters, Thomas said.

Police were not called.

Boys' High rector Tim O'Connor denied supporters were involved, saying the players and coach had told him spectators were only involved to the extent of separating the two sides.

However, he said the school had high expectations about parent and supporter behaviour at matches involving school teams.

"No parent has any right to get involved in on-field play. We would be very disappointed if any parent behaved to a standard that reflected poorly on them," O'Connor said.

But he said there was not generally a problem with parents of pupils misbehaving at sports games.

"Our parents are superb and we encourage them to be on the sidelines."

O'Connor said there is little the school can do to penalise over-the-top spectators, as they were adults and not under the control of the school.

However, he would talk to any parents involved in an on-field altercation about whether it was appropriate they continue attending matches.

Dannevirke High School acting principal Mike Ronke would not comment on the incident, but said the school made it clear to players and spectators that it was a fair play school and didn't tolerate fighting during games.

He said the school had never had an incident of spectator violence before.

- nzpa