Three players were sent from the field - all from the same team - in a club rugby match in North Otago on Saturday.
Three players from the Athletic Marist team were shown red cards by referee Blair Malcolm early in the second half of a senior match played at Weston against Valley.
The incident which led to the red cards came early in the second half when an all-in brawl broke out.
Almost all the players on the field were involved in the brawl though many were attempting to act as peace-makers.
After the melee, referee Malcolm sent off the three Athletic Marist players. They were No8 Malu Falepaini, halfback Filau Tokai and replacement Viliami Kaufana.
Even down to 12 players, Athletic-Marist nearly got up for a win, losing 26-25 to a last-minute penalty by Valley.
The incident was believed to have been recorded on camera.
A few years ago, after a spate of red cards and accusations of dirty play, the North Otago union decided to record all games to try to identify dirty play and clean up the game.
North Otago Rugby Football Union chief executive Colin Jackson could not be contacted yesterday and no-one from the Athletic Marist club could be reached.
A hearing should be arranged this week with the players likely to face bans.
