‘Friendly’ Rugby Match Ends In All Out Beach Brawl With Four Teams Swinging Haymakers Left And Right

It all started out as a ‘friendly’ rugby match, a pre-tournament warm up on the beach. Then things got testy, and all hell broke loose after the first punch was thrown. When the dust had settled four teams were suspended from the 11th Beach Rugby Wales and will not be invited back for future competition after security guards were forced to spring into action and separate bodies limb from limb as punches continued to be thrown.

The brawl obviously started out between only two teams, but for whatever reason, another two teams decided to involve themselves and now the Ferndale, Rhigos, Porth, and Wattstown teams are all suspended from the competition in the future.

No arrests were made, and the players reportedly shook hands after the last punch was thrown. So at least it ended on a somewhat positive note. Here’s the YouTube description which provides a little more info:

Four teams have been disqualified after the confrontations during the Beach Rugby Wales tournament on Saturday.
Wales Online reports the organisers said they won’t “tolerate” this behaviour and immediately “excluded” them.
Brawls were filmed breaking out on the pitches during two games – one between Porth A and Wattstown, and another between Ferndale and Rhigos.
One eyewitness said: “Players were violently pushing and shoving each other, some throwing punches with a clench fist.
“Security held down some players onto the sand to calm them down. The police moved some of the aggressive players away from the fight.”
One player said on social media: “It was over as quick as it started. People blow things out of proportion.”
He said: “It was a bit of scuffle. A total of 48 teams took part in the competition, so this was only a small part of what happened on the day.
“Touch rugby is a very physical game – it happens a lot.”
The tournament’s website explains: “Beach Rugby is played as touch rugby, but the matches can be very physical.
“A few touch rugby teams that have previously taken part haven’t reached the pool stages due to the physicality of the competition.”
A spokesman for Wattstown rugby team said: “The club wish to not comment on the incident.”

Rugby’s a tough sport, that’s the reputation it carries and it’s not at all surprising that some players would lose their cool and chaos would break out. I’m just glad someone was on hand to catch all the action on camera, because it would’ve been a shame if that brawl wasn’t shared with the world.

(h/t TheBigLead)

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Cass Anderson is the Editor-in-Chief of BroBible. Based out of Florida, he covers an array of topics including NFL, Pop Culture, Fishing News, and the Outdoors.