The South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu), Boland and Western Province (WP) have identified four key areas that will be targeted in an effort to eradicate violence at club rugby matches in the two provinces.
Attending a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the issue were Sarfu CEO Mveleli Ncula, manager of club rugby Hein Giliomee, Boland president Jackie Abrahams, Ivan Bekeur (Boland club rugby manager), Denver Pienaar (Boland game development manager) and the deputy CEO of WP, Herman Abrahams.
The four areas to be targeted are crowd control, player discipline, referee performances and development of club leadership.
The three parties condemned in the strongest possible terms the recent spate of violence in club matches, stating that such incidents will not be tolerated in future. The three will work in partnership to act against clubs that continue to be problematic in this regard.
As part of this partnership, Sarfu will send legal observers to attend disciplinary hearings for those clubs that have been involved in the most recent incidences of violence.
”Clubs that continue to cause problems after these measures have been put in place will face severe action, including suspension from their respective provinces,” said Ncula.
During the meeting, the three parties considered proposals on how to take club rugby forward in the Western Cape and Boland. The two provinces will take the proposals back to their respective constituents and will report back to Sarfu next month. — Sapa