Teachers, parents and old scholars must join hands and seriously look into this issue before it gets out of hand.

There is no place for schools rugby violence in Fiji.

Teachers, parents and old scholars must join hands and seriously look into this issue before it gets out of hand.

In the competition of the Eastern Zone Secondary Schools Rugby Competition at Queen Victoria School, Tailevu, last Friday there was a brawl between the U18 players of Queen Victoria School and Lelean Memorial School.

It is alleged that some spectators also took part in the brawl. A student from LMS was rushed to the hospital but was later released.

The Eastern Zone Secondary Schools Rugby Compe­tition committee met and decided that QVS will not be hosting any more games of the Eastern Zone Secondary Schools Rugby Competition for the time being while Po­lice conduct their investigations.

There are still a few more rounds be­fore the qualifying teams from all zones around the country are named to com­pete for a place in the 2018 Coke Zero Deans Trophy quar­terfinals, semifinals and finals matches.

For this year’s 2018 Coke Zero Deans Trophy finals, Ratu Kadavulevu Schools will be trying hard to defend all the Deans trophies it won last year.

Schools rugby competition has a special place in our hearts. It is a nursery for future players who have the talents to don the Fijian jersey and ply their trade in lu­crative overseas clubs.

It is steeped in tradition and stirs a lot of emotions in the fierce rivalry among schools. It is generally accepted that on the field of play deliberate foul play can cause tempers to fray.

But if it gets serious the referee steps in to stop the proceedings from degenerating into an all-out brawl. In today’s professional circuits, we find that there can be a lot of niggles in a game.

But the players know their limits. Those who overstep the mark get sin binned or the red card for the serious offence. The red card is rare now.

Spectators also play an important role on how a game is played. They can raise or lower the level and standard of competition through their cheering. If they call for violence then players could respond to that call.

All the details of what actually happened that day in question are still not clear. But because of what hap­pened, Police Chief Operations Officer, ACP Maretino Qiolevu, has confirmed that Police will beef up their presence at the Secondary Schools Zonal Rugby Compe­tition venues.

He is calling for the support of parents and ex-scholars to talk to players and students to refrain from instigat­ing violence. All these stakeholders have an important role to play. The teachers should be submitting their re­ports to the Ministry of Education.

The parents should be telling their children to be good sportsmen and sportswomen. Be good losers and refrain from violence. Old scholars should also be promoting that in sports the better team wins and one will lose.

Those who lose would try harder to do better the next time. Winning or losing is not the end of the road.

We hope that security will be tightened in all the rugby venues to avoid a repeat of this unfortunate incident.

MAIKA BOLATIKI

Feedback: maikab@fijisun.com.fj