Cape Town - Western Province have promised disciplinary action against one of their junior players who was involved in an ugly on-field fight over the weekend.
This comes after shocking video footage emerged of two under-19 players - one from Western Province and one from Eastern Province - involved in a fight during an SA Rugby U19 Championship match in Despatch.
A spokesperson for WP Rugby told Netwerk24 that they strongly condemn the incident and plan on investigating it.
“We’ll follow the correct procedures. As the match falls under the auspices of the SA Rugby Union, there is a disciplinary process that WP and the player will follow. We take foul play and violent behaviour very seriously and an internal disciplinary process will also take place at WP,” the spokesperson said.
The incident took place when WP right wing Christian Ambadiang was tackled by EP fullback Dylan le Roux.
After the tackle, both players can be seen getting into a scuffle (WATCH in the tweet below).
Cameroon-born Ambadiang pushes Le Roux, who responds with a punch to the face that sees members of both sides rushing to stop the altercation.
Once everything has settled down, the referee shows both players a red card, but it doesn't stop there.
The footage shows the two players walking off together and Ambadiang, clearly not happy with having been punched, head-butts Le Roux, who then throws another punch.
EP Rugby president Andre Rademan described the incident as shocking.
“We definitely do not condone it,” Rademan said, while adding that he welcomed WP’s investigation into the incident.
The WP under-19 side won the match at the Despatch Rugby Club 47-18.
Ugly scenes from WP U19’s 47-18 win over EP U19’s in PE this past weekend. pic.twitter.com/zdIUV2y57x
— Derek Alberts (@derekalberts1) October 1, 2018