Taranaki police are investigating after a rugby player was floored by a punch as opposing players were shaking hands after a premier grade match at Yarrow Stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Taranaki Rugby Football Union (TRFU) chief executive Mike Sandle said a Coastal Rugby player was punched by a Spotswood United player as the teams were shaking hands “well after the final whistle”.<\/p>\n
“The Coastal player was knocked to the ground, an ambulance was called and he was taken to Taranaki Base Hospital and examined, then later discharged.<\/p>\n
“We are extremely disappointed that this incident has detracted from what was an entertaining game played in good spirits.”<\/p>\n
There were no other players involved, Sandle said. Although RNZ understood there was a bit of pushing and shoving following the incident, which simmered down quickly.<\/p>\n
Sandle said Taranaki Rugby had instigated a judicial process and was supporting both clubs.<\/p>\n
He could not comment further because the incident was being investigated by police.<\/p>\n
Spotswood United chairperson Shanan Dick acknowledged a member of the club had “physically assaulted” a Coastal player during the “customary post-match handshakes”.<\/p>\n
“Regrettably, the altercation resulted in the Coastal player being knocked to the ground, necessitating medical attention. We are relieved to report that the player has since been discharged.”<\/p>\n
A police investigation had been launched into the “distressing incident” and the club would be not commenting further, he said.<\/p>\n
“Nonetheless, we wish to express our profound disappointment that such an event has overshadowed what was an otherwise enjoyable and spirited game.”<\/p>\n
Spotswood United was committed to working with both clubs to address the “regrettable” incident, Dick said.<\/p>\n
“Our utmost priority remains ensuring the safety and well-being of all players and maintaining the integrity of the game. Spotswood United has contacted both players involved and are supporting their well-being to the upmost.”<\/p>\n
Coastal Rugby and Sports Club chairperson Janet Fleming referred RNZ to the TRFU statement, adding “Coastal Rugby have no further comment to make”.<\/p>\n
Coastal were third in the points table while Spotswood were second from last.<\/p>\n
Spotswood United lost the close match 29-35.<\/p>\n
Te Whatu Ora Taranaki said a patient presented after a fight following a rugby match on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
“He was in a stable condition and discharged the same day.”<\/p>\n
Police said they were making enquiries following a report of an assault at a premises on Maratahu Street, Westown, about 4.30pm, and were speaking to those involved.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
rnz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Taranaki police are investigating after a rugby player was floored by a punch as opposing players were shaking hands after a premier grade match at Yarrow Stadium on Saturday. Taranaki Rugby Football Union (TRFU) chief executive Mike Sandle said a Coastal Rugby player was punched by a Spotswood United player as the teams were shaking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":10216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-nz-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10217,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10215\/revisions\/10217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}