Ref’s red cards on sideline parents after teen choked at rugby match

Friday, 15 May 2026

The referee at an under-14 rugby match that ended in violence has pulled the red card on parents after a player was choked in the match between two leading Hamilton high schools.

A boy was grabbed around the neck and “swung off the ground” by an adult in a post-game altercation, and the referee had to step in.

The referee — who did not want to be named — worried the players were being unfairly blamed for the fracas. It occurred after the Saturday game between St John’s College and Fraser High School had ended, with a score of 7-5 to Fraser.

Only one man acted like an idiot, despite reports of wider violence, he told the Waikato Times when contacted about the incident.

However, it was “the worst” such incident he had seen in about 12 years as a referee, and he believed supporters should be banned from Fraser High School’s games for the next four weeks as a consequence.

“It was a good-spirited game. There were no spear tackles like you normally get with those kids because they normally play league, so that coach had done a really good job with those kids.”

The players were “really polite”, in contrast to a witness who described “reasonably dirty play”, and shook hands afterwards.

The only thing that may have fired anyone up was when he disallowed a Fraser try and gave a penalty to the opposition, he said. This was because a Fraser supporter created a safety issue by standing on the field between the halfway line and the 22m line, possibly to take photos.

“All I know is I nearly ran into him, so I blew the whistle. I said, ‘No, you can’t be on the field, mate.’”

After the game, he was congratulating the winners when he noticed two players starting to push each other. He and a few parents went to break it up.

He said he had not seen any punches, only people trying to pull the kids apart and calm them down.

This is in contrast to the description of a St John’s linked witness, who said a St John’s player was headlocked by a Fraser parent, and two further St John’s players were punched by Fraser parents.

There was some yelling between the kids, the referee said, and he looked back and saw a Fraser supporter swinging a St John’s boy off the ground, choking him.

“That boy was going red in the face. He was in trouble. I had to push [the man] over to make him release the kid. I got the boy away from him and everything settled down.”

No other parent was trying to fight, and the kids were not to blame, he said.

The incident appears to have been the catalyst for a generic warning about poor sideline behaviour by the Waikato Rugby Union days later, but it came without any specific mention of the scale of the incident or the schools involved.

The schools involved did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

A police spokesperson said: “Police School Community Officers are aware of the report and working with the schools involved.”

Waikato Rugby chief executive Amy Marfell previously said Waikato Rugby was not responsible for the running of the secondary school rugby competition.

“This is overseen and run by a secondary school governance group and, as a result, the incident is being dealt with through the appropriate channels, which are the schools themselves.”

“It is important that this incident, and all incidents of this type, are dealt with appropriately to ensure the safety of all participants, coaches, volunteers and spectators in the game.”

A New Zealand Rugby spokesperson said they were disappointed to hear of the fracas.

“Physical and verbal abuse has no place in our communities, whether at work, in study, or other activities, and rugby is no exception. Rugby is built on respect, and we must all play our part in protecting and promoting that principle.

“This is a matter for the relevant organising competition organisers to resolve. New Zealand Rugby is always available to support these parties, if required.“