Players stabbed during club rugby game as spectators storm pitch

Club rugby players were left bloodied and wounded, some to the head, after a violent melee broke out at full-time between Jeffreys Bay and PE Harlequins at the Pellsrus Sportsground on Saturday.

News24 obtained footage of the incident from sources at the Eastern Province Rugby Union, under whose auspices the Super 14 club game was played.

In it, viewers can see the chaos breaking out after the final whistle as Harlequins secured a 25-24 win over the hosts, Jeffreys Bay Rugby Club. 

Paramedics can also be seen in another supplied video attending to some of the wounded, who had bloodied bodies and shorts, as well as bandages to heads and arms. Knives and bottles were reportedly used during the violent outbreak.

According to the Gqeberha-based Herald, police are investigating the incident and are tracking a suspect following the opening of a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

The publication said one player trying to defend himself sustained a cut to his arm "so deep that the bone protruded and all the ligaments were severed".

"It was a tough game and the whole time, there was tension on the field," Harlequins inside centre Divan Snayers, one of the players hospitalised, told the Herald.

"Players were unnecessarily aggressive towards each other and we kept getting rude comments from the crowd. When the ref blew the final whistle, everyone ran onto the field."

The Eastern Province Rugby Union wrote a letter to Jeffreys Bay Rugby Club, suspending them from home matches following the violent incident.