Coach ?verbally attacked ref?

The Western Province Rugby Union halted a schools rugby game because of the “unruly” behaviour of a coach.

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The Western Province Rugby Union halted a schools rugby game because of the “unruly” behaviour of a coach on the field at a recent match - where the players were allegedly encouraged to disregard the rules.

Some players from both teams were “too physical” and there were dangerous high tackles, parents and spectators said.

The first team match between Bergvliet High School and President High School was stopped 20 minutes before full-time on Saturday by Western Province Rugby referee Craig Green, who has submitted a report to the union about why he stopped the game.

The union is investigating.

Parents have said they were shocked by the “unruly” behaviour.

WP Rugby Union referees manager Ben Theron said he had received Green’s report.

“The match was stopped because of the unsporting behaviour of one of the coaches,” Theron said. “One coach kept disagreeing with a number of referee decisions and he was quite outspoken and was verbally attacking the referee.

“We need coaches - not only spectators - to respect the referees and their decisions. If they have a problem, they have to deal with it after the game and not make it known publicly,” Theron said.

He added that the coach could face disciplinary action, but the matter was still under investigation.

Meanwhile, parents who saw the match were taken aback by the atmosphere that developed on the field.

One parent, who asked not to be named, said: “The thing that blew me away was the way the coach was speaking to players. He was making comments on the sidelines where all parents could hear, saying, ‘When this whistle blows, this referee better make sure he gets away,’ and, ‘I told my team to f*** them (the other players) up. I don’t care if they all get sent off.’ ”

“It was really shocking. You don’t do that in school rugby. It’s unacceptable and that was really a sore point for me to hear those kinds of comments coming from a coach in school rugby.”

Francois Burger, whose son, Marek, played for the Bergvliet first team, said: “There was a lot of high tackling and spear tackles, which is dangerous, and we were telling the coach to watch the guys because someone was going to get hurt. Parents were also encouraging their kids, saying: ‘Don’t worry about the referee, bliksem die mannetjies.’”

Brian Pittman, a spectator, said the match was a display of school rugby “at its worst”. Said Pittman: “This sort of behaviour should be nipped in the bud and the responsible schools banned from playing.”

But Stephen Price, Bergvliet’s headmaster, said he was present throughout the game and did not understand why it had been stopped.

He said Green e-mailed him to say he had submitted a report to the union. Price said he was still waiting for a copy and would respond to it once he received it.

“I was there the entire time and we were all bemused when the game was stopped. The boys were probably swearing, which is not acceptable, but there were no fights or incidents.”

Theo Kleynhans, general manager of Western Province Youth Rugby, said its code of conduct for players was distributed at all schools.

“The referee’s report gets sent to my office and we hand the report to the school executive committee, who must decide what action will be taken. Referees always come under attack and we are starting to go to schools to encourage the old tradition of ‘three cheers for the referee’ after the game to restore that respect.

“People get all hyped up and become disrespectful and there is no place for that in rugby.”

- A boy, 15, is in a critical condition after being injured when a scrum apparently collapsed during a school rugby match in Sannieshof on Wednesday, North West paramedics said.

“When all the other forwards rose from the collapsed scrum, the teen stayed down and was unable to move. Paramedics transferred the boy from a hospital in Sannieshof to a private medical facility in Klerksdorp for further care,” a Netcare 911 spokesman said. The extent of the boy’s injuries was not immediately clear. - Cape Times

zara.nicholson@inl.co.za

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/coach-verbally-attacked-ref-1.1074134

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