Hi guys, came out of a meeting where the acting WP president spoke about clubrugby last night. Very sad to hear things that happened the past weekend and the state of some clubs.

Apparently a ref was attacked on saturday in the paarl. He was struck with a brick to the face! ......Terrible!

On the other side of cpt Sir Lowerians and Mac had such a huge fight the police had to close the road.

Very sad to hear these things........

Then there are clubs that simply dont have the numbers. M/Plain rugby club is apparently being closed down. The guys have 21 players registered for 2011.

B/Lavis rugby club appparently only played a 3rd team game so far. They dont have players to fill their teams.

Some other club is in such a bad state they dont even pitch up for home games anymore.

Wat gaan aan manne? I was shocked to learn things like this is still going on.

Very sad Kuila boy but i think it because of incidents such as what happened in Paarl and Sir lowrians that numbers are getting fewer and players dont want to play anymore.Its just not rugby anymore.

WPRFU is too blame for this, they have no backbone to put the culprits away and it has been coming on a long time time now. Last year there were also a couple of incidences and no punishment was given to the clubs.there was also an incident with Vineyards like Samwell posted and I really want to see what is going to happen with the rwespective clubs.

The main problem with WP club rugby is that there are to many club sides. They need to merge! WP need to insist that both teams record all the games at the venue incase anything happens, then there will be a recording from both clubs. I think you can get a camera for R2500 or maybe WP can give a camera to those who dont have or cant afford, its a small price to pay when it stops these incidents.

We can blame WPRFU for all we want  guys but ultimately we are the Union guys and as Kuila Boy explained we attend meetings and make decisions. We can also select the people we want to lead us but when it comes to Elections we are like a bunch of sheep being led by a Judas Goat.

Enough of the above. I have been involved with Organised Rugby for a long time both as player and official/ Administrator and the one thing I still find to be messing up our Rugby is not the Players, it is the Administrators/ Officials. From Coaches to Club Owners, they are the big culprits. Go look at the cause of these attacks and you would find that instead of stopping it the Administrators either, started, are involved or perpetuated it. Go look guys and then tell me I am a LIAR which I am big enough to accept if I am wrong.

again Sir Lowrians no that is enough - whenever they don't win then they want to fight - yes we can be competitive but not to that extent mayb the owner has a lot to do with it

Guys dont you realise that the powers that be need the numbers to stay in power?! There is way to many clubs. WP need to change that all clubs need to field 3 Senior and at least 1 0/20 side. Only then can you be a club. It is so sad to read about all this fighting on Saturdays. I dont understand why it has become such a battlefield? To think police have to get involved! Is it not because a decent side can be put on the field?Does fighting not become the only option? "Rather win the fight than loose the battle". In my experience if both sides field a decent team it then becomes about the game. Rugby is tough and we love it. Probably the only place we a man can still be a man.This however is seriously getting out of hand!  

Too much pride is going to see the death of club rugby in communities, people act on matters that are not in the interests of the game. Is that not what we are all about here .. the game ???

Actually i have to agree with all of the above replies. Just shows how many problems we actually have in clubrugby and why sponsorship is hard to obtain in lower leagues.

The really sad part for me (sorry to bring race into it) is that its always our coloured clubs involved. Why, why , why do we hate each other so much?

Just take a look at my club Kuilsriver. We play SLB so their is not much of this bad stuff but still i can feel the Hatred(not tension) when we play a Tygerberg or maybe Bellville. Nothing happens but when things gets close you hear the stuff being said both sides. Its as if we cant stand each other or rejoice in one failure. Mostly its not the players but people on the outside.

Look at the big derby's.....Hammies vs Villagers...Never have i heard people being stabbed or chassed with pangas and knives after the game. They actually take a dop together after the game. is it a educational thing maybe?

I can just mention a few games that i will never go watch just because of what i heard in the past. I actually dont know these teams.

Sir Lowerians vs any club in the strand area
Strand UTD vs a strand club
Collegians vs Primrose (back in the day/ I know its better now)

You guys get my point? Wat gaan aan met ons mense???

KB, U mos lekker posting some kak here bru ...

What you are also saying is that you the same as so many here, they judge without having all the facts.Collegians and Primroses never really had any history other than what is currently happening competing in SLB ... Back in the day the Rose could not even compete with Collegians .. so there is nt much history there ..


Where I will agree with you, is that our manne take things too far, we look at the how things are on a person level .. duals between old enemies perhaps off the field .. we dont look at the tradition and rugby that goes with it .. its not an education thing ... its a completely different outlook to the occassion that needs to be looked at.

There is a lot of contributing factors which has brought us to this point, many of which was mentioned by you guys already. These days it costs a helluva lot of money to successfully run a club what with putting out a decent team that can compete, travelling costs, setting up the infrastructure to maintain it etc. Therein lies the problem though.

Because many clubs struggle to get this off the ground there is a spiralling effect ie. player recruitment becomes an issue, morale becomes low, players who then do pitch up get hammered on the field and the frustrations between players and spectators builds up to such an extent that it eventually has to erupt somehow. Previously players were confined to there respective communities and clubs could at least bank on that degree of loyalty to keep them going. These days with players being open to join whomever and wherever, it becomes survival of the fittest. This is where the club itself has to physically do the hard graft, whether it is promoting there clubs in a bigger way or just making it more viable for people to join by creating an good rugby environment that is enjoyable for everybody concerned. It doesnt help in that respect that officials of a club does not set an example as they are the ones who have to steer the club in a particular direction. So how exactly will this problem be solved?

Again the union is never gonna be able to assist ninety odd clubs "survive", so the buck stops at the club. Pride will also contribute heavily towards a certain demise. Yes, everybody wants to hold onto there identity be it through there long history or for whatever reason, but the reality is that not everybody wants to work towards sustaining that identity. I have seen some clubs in the lower leagues who does not even have one team at a practise then expect to miraculously field 3 or 4 teams on a Saturday. And we wonder why people are frustrated at the field come match day? That together with lack of preparation at the field is a recipe for disaster.

Unfortunately people within certain communities would rather "die" first before they join up to make a particular area stronger in rugby terms. This is very clear to see considering what has happened thus far. I am by no means saying that joining forces would be an easy process, but if we can only get pass the point of "self-gratification" then we can at least work towards getting there. Until then it is each club wanting to do there own thing. As a result player resources get spread over a relatively small area(due to number of clubs) with sponsors only willing to accommodate the "fittest" out of many from a concentrated area. And so the cycle will continue. Such is the moral fibre of society these days that it has now become an issue of wanting to be better than my neighbour at all costs and people will do whatever it takes to maintain that, even at the expense of respect and common decency. Therefore until we learn to help ourselves by helping others we will have to adapt or die.

just to add my penny's worth, a lot of the behaviour responsibility is that of management (committee members, coaches and team manager).

if management shouts at the referee in an abusive manner, the players on the field are going to pick up on the vibe and will follow suit in discontent when decisions that go against them. it's not easy, but management should do their best not to make "too big a deal" and "put up a show" in the technical area. players see their actions and act accordingly. supporters see their actions and follow suit.

when management become aware that their spectators are using foul language next to the field, they should approach their spectators and ask them to behave in accordance. expecting the home club's management to walk up to the visiting club's spectators and ask them to stop using foul language will cause unnecessary hostility. 

The last 2 posts are brilliant.

It is great to see some decent debate on the issue - all over this site there is hatred, such hatred . . why carry on - it is not fun . .
When a club tries to do something to better itself out comes the poison - pull them down, stand on them hate them - epsecially if they are different from 'us'. Hate the opposition, hate the match officials . .  misconception, prejudice, believe what you want to believe. We need to get over this . . some try hard

KB you acting on hear say here my friend.  There was no police van or police official prsent on saturday at our game against SL.  I am an official of MC and really have to rectify you here.  I do not know where you got your info from but this is all a load of crap!  You people on this form are very quick to throw stones at other clubs without getting your facts straight.  Really people don't act on hear say aal the time, get your facts straight. Now WP wants reports from Mac & SL and we do not know what to report on.  There was one incident after the match where 1 of SL drunk spectators hit one of our players on the head with a beer bottle but that was sorted out straight away by SL.  First sweep before your own doors before you want to clean other people's yards.

Sort your own club's politics out first before throwing stones.
The game was hard and the referee conducted it well FYI