Reoccuring and unacceptable behaviour by a small number of Community Rugby players coaches and supporters has left a black mark on what has otherwise been a fantastic start to Baywide rugby. 

Abuse, violence, threats, and other poor behaviour has been reported to the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union at a frequent and concerning rate. The BOPRU has consequently found it necessary to address this publicly to our community. 

In just three weeks of Community Rugby, the BOPRU has been made aware of: 

• Multiple counts of coaches entering the field of play which has inflamed or instigated poor behaviour. 

• An elbow from a senior club player to an opposition player resulting in a broken jaw. 

• Two counts of physical abuse on different referees. 

• Two counts of verbal abuse towards different referees. 

There are also confirmed reports of thirteen red cards in senior rugby alone this season - eight of which being dished out for fights/punching. 

"Weekends of this nature are usually out of the box, maybe once per season. We have now had two such weekends where this sort of behaviour has occurred," says Referee Manager Cameron Russell. 

"More concerning is the nature of the incidents, which have ranged from moderate to extreme in their severity. We have not had physical abuse of a referee for many years and have now had two in two weeks." 

Poor behaviour has no place in the Bay of Plenty. Rugby is a game meant to bring us together. We implore our community to rally together and stamp out abuse and violence in our rugby community. That way, everyone can feel safe participating in our regional game to their fullest potential.  

Record it. Report it. 

Bay of Plenty Rugby aims to create a “Positive Rugby Environment” at all levels of the game, for all our participants whether they be a player, coach, referee, administrator or spectator. We try to strengthen the community game by the retention and attraction of players, coaches and referees and in order to do that we all must ensure that we provide a positive rugby environment for that growth to take place.

To do that we need to educate all of our stakeholders on what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour whilst participating or observing our great game. We also need to provide a method for our stakeholders to notify us of behaviour that doesn’t fit within the framework of, “Positive Rugby”.

The Poor Behaviour Form on our website provides an easy way for anyone to make us aware of an incident that makes our rugby environment a negative place to be. To view the Poor Behaviour Form click here.

Article added: Thursday 26 May 2022