scuffle in a rugby match at the Bombay Gymkhana On Tuesday
Rugby is a game of crunches, pushes and shoves. In the 76th All India & South Asia Rugby, Division-I tournament here on Tuesday, there was much more than that. The tackles, shoves and crunches triggered a chain reaction of chaos, madness and violence.
On a seemingly serene day at the Bombay Gymkhana, all hell broke lose during the Maharashtra State Police (MSP) vs Uzbekistan match. The Uzbeks leading 21-0 at half-time seemed to be cruising along to victory when there was a late tackle on Plekhanov Dima by an MSP player which resulted in a ruckus.
The diminutive Indian players made up for their lack of height and strength by grabbing hold of the plastic chairs on the field and hitting out at their taller Uzbek opponents in a fit of mindless rage. The Uzbeks returned blow for blow and while chairs were broken and punches traded, the referees’ persistent whistling went unheeded.
The fight turned so ugly that even the referees didn’t come away unscathed, with one of them even being bitten on his arm by a player while he was trying to calm things down.
What emerged after the carnage were a set of bloody faces, bruised hands, plenty of broken chairs and a bunch of disgruntled players. The match referee finally brought a halt to the scuffle and hauled the team managers and captains off to the centre. The match was abandoned.
Indian rugby coach Norman Laker, who got a knock to the knuckle, was furious with the Indian players who he had tried to appeal to. He clarified that three Uzbek players had sustained injuries to their head.
Aga Hussain, vice-president of Rugby India said, “It’s an unfortunate thing but the game has progressed to such a competitive level that sometimes things get out of hand.
Hopefully the worst is behind us and we will have a great semifinal to look forward to.”The touchline judge who was refereeing the game said that action will be taken against a few players or the team, after the committee members reviews through the recording of the match. The players of both sides were unreachable for comments. While the Uzbek players were rushed off the field after the match the MSP players refused to divulge any information.
No police complaint has been filed till late Tuesday night. The Uzbeks were declared winners and will be seen in action in Thursday’s semifinal.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day,defending champions Army Red trounced Bangalore 33-0.
Comments
