/ 21 May 2012

Naas Botha wants tougher action against brawlers

Naas Botha during day one of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour Stellenbosch on September 15 2010 in Stellenbosch.
Naas Botha during day one of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour Stellenbosch on September 15 2010 in Stellenbosch.

Players from John Vorster Technical High School and Waterkloof High School, both in Pretoria, got involved in a fistfight after a match at the weekend.

“A one to three-week ban won’t teach these guys a lesson,” Botha, who is also a coach at Waterkloof High School, told Beeld newspaper.

“Remove them from the game, because we [the rugby community] don’t need this kind of thing. At some stage Saru [South African Rugby Union] should step in and take serious measures against players who behave like this,” Botha said.

The two teams had just completed their league match and had shaken hands on the field when the fight broke out. A John Vorster player allegedly punched Waterkloof’s fullback, from Grade 11, in the face, and other John Vorster boys then kicked him when he fell.

A Waterkloof teammate rushed to help the boy but was also punched and kicked to the point where he lost consciousness for a while.

Deon Fichet, John Vorster’s sports manager, said the incident would be investigated at the school on Monday.

Waterkloof won the second-team match 54-10. – Sapa