A man has been charged with assault following a sideline fracas between two parents at an under-10 rugby match in Dunedin on Saturday.
The 54-year-old Dunedin man, who is a parent of one of the under-10 players, has been summonsed to appear in the Dunedin District Court later this month after allegedly punching another parent on the sidelines of the 10am game between the Dunedin Threshers and the Zingari-Richmond Dragons at Kettle Park.
Constable Reece Munro, of Dunedin, said it appeared the man who was punched had been verbally abusing the referee and other people at the match, as he had done at games in previous weeks.
On Saturday, he was again verbally abusing the referee and using poor language throughout the game, eventually stepping on to the pitch.
He was asked to leave the pitch, but back on the sideline continued the verbal abuse.
When the other parent approached him and told him to be quiet, he continued with the verbal abuse and the other parent punched him twice.
The punched man contacted police, who arrived and issued a summons to the other parent.
The incident was a reminder to parents and spectators that verbal abuse and poor language in any public setting, especially in front of young children, could lead to charges, Const Munro said.
The Otago Rugby Football Union declined to comment when contacted, saying it was a police matter.
Following another incident on Saturday, a senior match between Pirates and Crescent at Hancock Park was called off with more than 30min remaining because referee Rob Wells feared for the players' safety.
Wells issued Pirates three yellow cards and a red card in an increasingly ill-tempered section 2 semifinal.
At halftime, Wells, who is in his sixth season as a referee, warned both captains if the game continued to deteriorate he would be forced to call the match off.
"It was becoming more of a grudge match than a game of rugby, really," Wells said.
When an "all-in" fight broke out after foul play from a Pirates player, for which he was red-carded, Wells decided enough was enough.
"For the safety of the players and the reputation of the game ... it was in both parties' best interests that the match was ended early."
ORFU rugby operations manager Richard Perkins said a hearing would take place regarding the match being called off.
Pirates was leading 44-10 when the game was called off but the hearing would determine if that result would stand.
Perkins declined to name the player who had been red-carded.
He will receive an automatic two-week stand-down "unless the metropolitan judicial committee deems it needs to come to a hearing if it is more serious," Perkins said.
Crescent president Gail Phillips and Pirates chairman Adam Binns declined to comment on the incident.
