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Mass brawl mars top schools rugby derby

Cape Town - Chaos ensued at the end of a schools rugby match in the Eastern Cape at the weekend.

A match-winning conversion was unable to take place in the derby match between Dale College and Queen’s College due to a pitch invasion.

Dale scored a controversial try in injury time to level the scores at 24-24, but the conversion was never taken as Queen’s supporters, who thought the final whistle had gone, rushed on to the field.

The headmasters of both schools have expressed concern over the pitch invasion.

Dale headmaster Mike Eddy told the HeraldLIVE website that his school regretted the incident.

"This was not how we wanted to end our season. This has definitely left us with a sour taste and we hope the situation can be handled in such a way that it does not hamper any future clashes with one of our longstanding rivals."

Queens acting headmaster Mike Boy added: “Yes, our boys did invade the pitch first, but they did so out of jubilation for what they thought was the final whistle and a good result for their team. They never intended to disrupt a losing game, or start the incident that ended in a pushing and shoving match between parents and officials.”

The Border Rugby Union is aware of the incident and will compile a complete report after gathering information from both schools and the match officials involved.

WATCH video footage of the incident in the clip below:

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