SCHOOL RUGBY JUST GOT A RED CARD FROM REALITY

When did school rugby become Fight Club with homework? Over the weekend, two South African school rugby matches were called off under very different but equally disturbing circumstances: one after a mass brawl involving players, parents and spectators, and another after an alleged racial slur was heard during play. These are supposed to be children playing sport. Instead, the adults appear to have arrived carrying unresolved trauma, provincial pride and the emotional regulation of a WhatsApp family group during Christmas.