Villager FC president Bossie Clarke has deplored the ‘hooliganism’ that led to a bloody off-field brawl at Violets rugby club in Kenwyn, Cape Town, on Saturday. CRAIG LEWIS reports.

There has been a widespread outcry in local rugby circles since reports and images emerged of two Villager players left bloodied and beaten following a vicious melee that broke out before the 1st XV match.

On Tuesday, Western Province Rugby denounced the violence and said it had ‘requested detailed reports from both clubs in order to ensure that the correct procedures are followed’.

While details over what exactly transpired have remained sketchy, Clarke provided SARugbymag.co.za with an account of what he described as a ‘shockingly violent’ altercation.

‘We already saw signs of this sort of thing last year when we had horrible incidents of altercations and verbal abuse during that game against Violets at Brookside. So we were wary of having a repeat of this again, and that’s why we sent a letter to the [Western Province Rugby] union to send the necessary officials to help avoid any nonsense. We initially got no reply.’

Clarke said WPRFU officials were eventually provided, but that they only arrived before the 1st XV game. By that stage, a bloody brawl involving players, coaches and spectators had already taken place, which saw 2nd XV player Reece Gregg taken to hospital after suffering serious head wounds.

Clarke suggested the fight had been sparked when an ‘official’ from Violets allegedly made threatening remarks to Villager’s 3rd XV coach, and then spat in the face of captain Tohier Keeran after an exchange of words. A headbutt ensued, with the brawl escalating from there.

‘Various people got involved in the fight, and in the midst of it all, Reece was shut in a change room and beaten up terribly by several people. You should have seen how bloody the change room was afterwards,’ a horrified Clarke commented.

Although Villager did consider calling off the 1st XV game, they ultimately opted to go ahead with it, as Villager were playing for promotion into the Western Province Super League A next season.

Clarke said that vitriolic verbal abuse continued to flow, while he believed that at least two of the alleged perpetrators involved in the assault remained at the ground and continued to cause trouble. He also alleged that firecrackers were let off at crucial parts of the game.

‘This is just plain hooliganism. This has got nothing to do with rugby, and there is no place for it in the game. I’ve had enough, something has to be done, and we want answers.’

Violets president Nadir Isaacs joined Clarke in condemning the violence, although he said they had tried to put a plan in place to separate opposing parties from the two clubs, and that these rules had not been adhered to.

‘We sent them [Villager FC] a layout of our fields, and said that we wanted our spectators to stay on one side, and for theirs to remain on the other to avoid any issues. However, some of them encroached on our side, and got too close to the field, and words were exchanged.

‘I’m not going to comment on what started the fight, or who was to blame, but I believe it could have been avoided if our plans to keep everyone apart had been adhered to.’

Isaacs added that they had moved quickly to defuse the situation, and to treat the players who had been injured, before order was restored ahead of the main game.

‘At the end of the day there is no place for this sort of violence,’ he said. ‘Rugby is supposed to be there to build bridges, and what happened shouldn’t be part of the game.’

WP Rugby president Thelo Wakefield said that these type of incidents needed to be dealt with in the appropriate manner.

‘We take such incidents very seriously and will ensure that we do everything in our power to get to the bottom of the situation.

 We cannot allow any sort of unsporting conduct to infect our proud club culture, and our priority is to ensure the safety and security of our players, officials and supporters at all times.’