Rugby match turns into chaos

Rugby match turns into chaos
DURING the past weekend what was supposed to be a pleasant rugby game turned into a fiasco when rugby players from Eto- sha Secondary School and sup- porters attacked a referee after the team forfeited the game.
The incident happened at Tsumeb over the weekend when Windhoek High School (WHS) Under-19B and Etosha’s team played each other.
During the second half, all went well until 12 minutes into the game. The referee, Melvin Esau, awarded a penalty to Etosha’s No 6 player. The captain of the Etosha team, No 10, confronted the refer- ee and was awarded a yellow card.
Etosha player No 4 also entered the mix and exchanged words with the referee and was also awarded a yellow card. Upon receiving the yellow card, No 4 tried to get to
Esau, but his teammates stopped him.
Player No 8 from Etosha came in and also confronted the referee and was awarded a red card. The whole Etosha rugby team then preceded to walk off the field.
The referee then stopped the match as the whole team walking ofcallsforaforfeitontheirbehalf.
Afterwards witnesses recalled a large crowd seen walking towards where the WHS team was getting dressed as the referee was stand- ing there and chatting to WHS coaches. Allegedly leading the crowd was No 8 with an adult, which the witness assumed was his father.
Before anything could be said the adult started hitting the referee and the crowd joined in. Players No 8 and No 4 from Etosha al- legedly also kicked and hit the referee. The only thing the referee could do was to cover his face and to try and avoid the punches.
WHS staff tried to control the chaos by shielding the referee but it hardly worked as the crowd was big. Only when an unknown Tsumeb resident entered the brawl did the crowd disperse and leave.
The incident has been submit- ted to the Namibian Second- ary School Rugby body by the Namibian Rugby Referee Soci-
ety (NRRS). The chairman of the NRRS, Jacky Husselman, stated, “I can’t comment on the incident due to the ongoing investigation, but can just say that we as refer- ees have seen an increase of abuse of match officials by spectators, rugby coaches and players. Unfor- tunately, if a team loses someone needs to be blamed and the referee seems to be the easiest to be the guilty party. People always seem to forget the mistakes made by teams during the game, but one or two mistakes by the referee are always the cause of a team’s per- formance on the day.”
Neither Esau, the referee, or Johnny Coetzee, representative from Etosha, wanted to comment.

[@Khp1983]

Tarnishing the reputation of this gentleman's game. Playing rugby especially representing your school, pulling on your colours and running onto the field should be an honour. Young lads, be mindful of how you represent yourself, your school and most importantly your family and the game...

[@NOTORIOUS750]

Totally agree with your statement.

[@jaytok7]

💯 this aint soccer

[@fab4601]

Scoreboard said it all

[@patrickgrammer945]

Played for that team from 1995 too 1998 never had something like this!!!

[@cjels5400]

probably the losing side starting it all

[@bullsai982]

Chaos bahaha none at all

[@aillyshipiki620]

the main chaos did not start because of the penalty okay, maybe he was wrong, but it was started by the insults the ref said. it wasn't about losing in the first place. it's part of life. Now my school pays for something informante could not even state about the ref. Dankie tog Mr Melvin.... you brought out another side of the Tsumeb residents...

[@aillyshipiki620]

First off Etosha didn't have a fault in the issue. the player from WHS did not have the right to flick the Etosha player without a ball and the ref... whatever his name is did not have the right to insult the players, sooo he got what was coming to him. I'm not trying to take sides but as a witness, I fail to understand the 'fair' term used by this man. This video is dragging the name Etosha Secondary School to the ground.... really unecessary!!!!!!!!!

[@karitak2685]

Percival Bock soho

[@riadhamadi6857]

Percival Bock Dude u weren't even there.All of you who judge us know NOTHING,what we did wasn't right,but it was aggravated,there is no need for you to sensationalise this by adding ''spice'' with your one-sided lies and half-truths.We are a disciplined team.Always have been,always will be.I will say one thing in our defense.Everybody has their limits,once those limits are reached,there's no going back.

[@patrickgrammer945]

That does not justify there behavior!!