De Montfort University RFC from Leicester were ordered to raise £2,500 for charity when they appeared before a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel charged with conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game during a University Rugby Club initiation in November last year.
De Montfort must raise the money, which will be donated to the Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People at Loughborough by December 31. The money must be raised by fund-raising efforts and not from existing funds and the rugby club must be accountable to the chairman of the Leicestershire RFU disciplinary committee.
James Mills, De Montfort University RFC chairman, secretary Ian Jones and player Joseph Forrisalman, who all admitted the two offences, were each suspended from playing for 30 weeks.
Antony Davies, chairman of the panel, said he hoped that the playing suspension would be “sufficiently draconian so as not to adversely affect your academic studies.” However, the hearing should send a warning to all other universities that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable in our sport, and what seems like a bit of fun to some people might land them in hot water with the powers-that-be.
John McLear, coach of De Montfort University RFC, was severely reprimanded by the panel though he was not charged with an offence.
The first charge was that senior players and officers of the club conducted an initiation ceremony during which new players were expected to, and did, each and all of the following:
(i) appear naked and blindfolded on a playing field in sight of persons in the vicinity;
(ii) get pelted with eggs and flour;
(iii) drink what was described as a “dirty pint” of milk, containing substances such as sauces and chilli powder;
(iv) slide along a sheet of plastic greased with foul-smelling substances;
(v) eat from tins containing baked beans and spaghetti hoops; and
(vi) jump into a paddling pool containing liquid.
The charge was amended and references to eating dog food or jumping into a paddling pool containing liquid including urine were removed.
The second charge was that senior players and officers of the club conducted an initiation ceremony during which new players were placed in a position whereby they were made to travel back to campus wearing shorts and shoes only.
De Montfort were also ordered to pay £100 towards the costs of the hearing.
I must be getting old – it looks very tame, the way it reads, even had the dog food and urine bits been left in. Was anyone – a particiapnt, far less an innocent passer-by – beaten up or set fire to? Were neighbouring properties or vehicles vandalised? What De Montfort did used to be pretty much compulsory in many people’s thoughts about rugby clubs, especially college ones. Or at least in the early 1980s it was, which goes back to me being obviously too old for modern mores. I am getting old and grumpy and I can’t stand the drunken, foul-mouthed oiks that hang around my High Street on Friday & Saturday nights and leave fast food, wrappers, vomit, urine and occasional damage to car and property behind them. De Montfort Uni RFC might also be ill-behaved foul-mouthed oiks, but if they restricted their activities to their playing fields or clubhouse, good luck to them.
Oh, and while I’m at it: 30 weeks’ suspension for this – when “professional” foul-play, including dangerous acts and conduct that might be considered “ungentlemanly”, widely seen on TV and bringing the game into far more disrepute, results in much more lenient penalties?
I think the fact that people inflicted these things on other people is the issue. it has always gone on, but if stories of this sort of behaviour are accepted, it will put people off joining rugby clubs and taking up the game.
You should not condone this sort of thing, howver old you are.
I whole heartedly endorse Geof’s remarks.I suspect that he & I are about the same vintage.
It maybe ‘politically correct ‘to criticise De Montford Uni RFC for their drinking games etc but I see nothing wrong in young men enjoying themselves in the controlled environment of a rugby club.
The only mistake that the De Montford lads made was getting caught.
Lets not be too precious about this,anyone joining a Rugby Club does so in the knowledge of the drink that might accompany it & the activities that might follow.Long may it continue.
Anyone thought about a whip round to pay meet this ‘donation’ to charity.
I also recomend that they appeal to the RFU against the length of the playing ban for what was an ‘off the field’ incident which might hae offended the sensitivities of some but didn’t result in anyone going to hospital or losing a days pay because of injury.
Wow, 30 weeks suspension for this? What is happening to the game we love?
As far as the initiation is concerned this seems pretty tame stuff compared to some I have seen in 20 years of coaching and 10 years playing the game. I have not yet come across anyone who carries permanent psycological scars as a result of the initiation they experienced. Perhaps there is someone out there, but then what scars did a good crash tackle leave on you?
For what went on at Bath Rugby the players concerned got banned for 9 months what De Montfort University RFC did merits 30 weeks? In this instance the punishment does not fit the crime. I hope De Montfort University RFC appeal against this draconian punishment.
What would Draco have thought of the leniency of such a sentence? 30 weeks for blindfolding naked players, for throwing eggs and flour and sending them down a bit of smelly plastic, OK, but eating baked beans and spagetti hoops from tins is beyond the pale! I’m sure the Leicestershire RFU would expect at least silver service for such delicacies.
There is a down-side to banning this devilish trio from the rugby pitch. Who knows what evil deeds they will get up to in their newly found spare time. Perhaps they terrorise the populice of Lecester forcing them to jump into empty paddling pools and to eat potato crisps out of packets!
This sort of thing has been going on for too long in the game and is more responsible for the erosion of core values than almost anything else that I can think of. If people want to join the orange juice and disappear straight after the game brigade then could we suggest another sport, leave ours and its traditions alone. Uni students, in my experience, usually need no excuse to strip off irrespective of the activity they are involved in and the same also applies ( At least I hope it does ) to the majority of rugby players. This is all part of the bonding process that binds us inextricably to our sport and our team mates, just because it is not talked about publically doesn’t make it a bad thing. I support the call for donations to De Montfort to pay for this fine and query the thought process of those that handed it down. Disrepute ? The lunatics really are getting the upper hand.