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Andrew McArthur / Stuff
Petone Ridge Studd rugby player chases a Marist St Pats player. Studd subsequently suffered severe facial injuries after being attacked by Marist St Pats players.
The Marist St Pats Rugby Football Club has been banned from entering a men’s team at a prestigious Wellington tournament for three years after three of their players were found to attack a Petone player during a game in November, leaving him with severe facial injuries. and unable to work.
The three players have also been banned from playing rugby at the club level for different periods of time.
Details of the attack on Petone’s Ridge Studd are contained in a Wellington Rugby Football Union disciplinary committee report, released this week, after a hearing chaired by Wellington’s attorney Gerard Dewar.
Dewar called the attack “embarrassing” and was highly critical of Marist St Pats’ response to the incident.
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“We are not satisfied that members of the MSP team have had to be adequately held accountable within their club or that their club has adequately treated those involved in this shameful event,” he wrote in the report.
He noted that the Marist St Pats colt team had been involved in a “rebel fight” at a game in 2019.
The Ambassador’s Sevens Tournament match, between Petone Rugby Club and Marist St Pats at Maidstone Park on November 14, was abandoned after a fight involving players from both clubs and a spectator.
Andrew McArthur / Stuff
An MSP player lunges at Studd, who has been knocked unconscious.
Photos from the day show Studd pinned to the ground as the fight breaks out. He stood convulsing on the ground.
Referee Colin Te Pohe said at the hearing that he was surprised by what he saw. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It was sheer hoax.”
Andrew McArthur / Stuff
Studd is still pinned to the ground as the fight breaks out.
Another referee, Warren Quesnell, said he was considering resigning as a result of the incident.
The judicial committee banned the Marist St Pats from the Ambassador Sevens Tournament for three years, saying allowing them to play in future tournaments was “potentially dangerous.”
Marist St Pats player Iosefo Aukusitino was suspended from all rugby for two years for striking with serious and serious consequences to the victim’s health, and his brother Sagele Aukusitino was suspended for a year. His teammate Jeremiah Tuiatua was suspended for five games for injecting force through a shoulder load.
Andrew McArthur / Stuff
Petone’s players try to support Studd who is unconscious.
Another Aukusitino brother, Patrick, attended the match as a spectator and became involved in the fight. He was banned from attending any match under the control of WRFU for two years.
The club was warned that there would be more serious consequences if the club was associated with more acts of violence.
Studd, the victim, was suspended for three games for hitting and retaliation.
Wellington journalist Adam Julian, who has covered club rugby for more than a decade and came to the game right after the attack, said the sentences were too lenient.
Ridge Studd was so brutally attacked that he suffered a seizure after being knocked unconscious. It didn’t stop there, ”Julian said.
“The next day, his face looked like he went rounds with Mike Tyson,” he said. “Multiple broken bones and a broken eye socket that could not be repaired until the swelling dissipated about fifteen days later.”
Studd continued to face ongoing medical problems that could affect him for the rest of his life, Julian said, and he was unable to return to work until at least the next month.
Studd did not respond to requests for comment.
Petone club captain Mike Woollett said the club was deciding whether or not to appeal the sentences handed down to Marist St Pats. Personally, he felt the bans were too lenient.
The judicial committee praised Petone’s response. “We believe that Petone’s conduct with respect to the event and in this process has been, in all respects, responsible, reasonable and measured, and we regret that we did not find that MSP has responded adequately to this matter,” the report says.
Marist St Pats club president Rob Evans said the players were “very upset” by what happened. The club was reviewing the outcome of the hearing to decide whether to appeal.
The club had a duty to care for its members and make sure the youth received a fair hearing, Evans said.
Wellington Rugby said it would not comment until the appeal process is complete.
The parties have seven days to appeal the decisions. The police have confirmed that investigations are ongoing.
