WATCH: Chaos erupts as players and parents involved in mass brawl during schools match

David Skippers
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Schools brawl image

Players and parents were involved in the mass brawl.

Chaos erupted during a senior schools rugby match when a mass brawl, reportedly involving players and parents, took place in Pretoria on Saturday.

The altercation occurred early in the second half during the first-team Noordvaal Cup clash between the Menlopark and Dr. E.G. Jansen high schools, with the former holding a comfortable 36-5 lead at the time.

The incident resulted in the encounter being abandoned.

According to Caxton Network News, an unnamed source revealed that the incident was allegedly sparked by a Menlopark Old Boy who told the Dr E.G. Jansen first-team players that they ‘must look at the scoreboard’.

The source said that comment led to one of the Dr E.G. Jansen players jumping over the barriers behind the in-goal area and the brawl, which was captured on video, ensued.

Noordvaal Cup committee chairperson Tinus Diedericks has confirmed that reports are being sought from the schools involved.

“What has happened should not happen at rugby matches and there is no place for it,” said Diedericks. He added that once both schools have provided their respective reports on the incident, officials “will act on that”.

Menlopark high’s school governing body (SGB) chairperson Japie de Wet condemned the incident.

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“This type of conduct on and around sports fields is naturally something we totally condemn and do not condone in any way,” he told Caxton Network News.

De Wet added that his school will launch an internal investigation to ensure that all facts are established before taking appropriate action.

Meanwhile, Dr E.G. Jansen high’s SGB chairperson Riaan van Aswegen requested time to thoroughly investigate the ‘unacceptable incident’ and the underlying allegations.

He said the SGB will only give a response once all facts are established, after which ‘appropriate action’ will be taken if deemed necessary.

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There was plenty of reaction on social media with former Springboks lock Kobus Wiese, who is currently working as a rugby commentator on television, saying on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Both schools, should be forced to ban guilty parents, administrators and players for life, if evidence show they were involved or participated in this bizarre incident. This is part of the problem in schools , problem parents!”

Fellow X user @SarahThinker22 wrote: “They behave like hooligans. What happened to sportmanship?”

Meanwhile, @StHonorable wrote: “Barbarism is at play here. It’s something that has been hidden for the longest time. Rugby is a violent sport.”

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