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Police, security guards, an alcohol ban and a morning game of rugby were all used to prevent two Catholic secondary schools from engaging in another brawl at their annual fixture in Sydney on Saturday.
The match was between Marist Brothers, St Joseph’s College in Hunter’s Hill (Joeys) and the Jesuit St Ignatius’ college (Riverview). The measures were put in place following incidents in 2008 and 2010.
Down-played at the time by Joeys Principal, Ross Tarlinton as “a couple of people being silly” and “you’re talking about two incidents in 120 years,” by Riverview’s headmaster Shane Hogan, both schools did not want to see a repeat that involved police using Capsicum spray on 15 – 20 males.
Hogan labelled last years problem as the fault of “undesirable spectators”.
In a written message to parents in the days leading up to the match Tarlinton, supported Riverview’s decision to change the kick-off time.
With only a small 30 second skirmish on the nearby ‘soccer’ pitch, and sorted out by a burly security guard, the host Headmaster, Riverview’s Hogan, declared the day “an outrageous success”.
For the record, Riverview also won, 26-22 and remain undefeated.
Sources
- SMH – 2010
- SMH – 2011
- Image: GPS Rugby blog
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News category: World.
