‘You’d have to get fully naked’: Uni rugby players and footballers on hazing at socials

Former students from the University of Warwick and Cardiff University have revealed the true extent of hazing and excessive drinking culture still prevalent in uni sport today. In an episode of The Petrie Pod, two ex-university footballers and one rugby player discuss everything from throwing eggs at bartenders, to enforced naked hazing rituals at socials, to locking freshers in cupboards at their initiation ceremonies.

Both the podcast and the TikToks garnered thousands of views but, after The Tab approached the creator for comment, they have since been removed.

And of course, the original video (but not the TikToks) had a disclaimer slapped onto the front saying the events discussed are fabricated. We’ve included several of the now-deleted TikToks so you can make up your mind whether or not that’s true…

The Seed 

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— TheTabTikToks (@TikTab) April 13, 2022

Former Warwick Uni rugby player Jack spoke of “The Seed,” a practise that occurred at “most circles” (rugby socials).

“So, you’d have to get fully naked, curl up in a ball,” Jack said. “Someone would come over and throw a pint over you, like you’re flowering the seed. And then you’d have to slowly grow up into a flower, fully naked.”

He said that The Seed was a “fair” punishment for talking over the chairman of the club.

The Fountain of Youth

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— TheTabTikToks (@TikTab) April 13, 2022

Jack said that “The Fountain of Youth” never happened to him and he never took part in it. He was, however, winking and laughing while he said this.

Describing the practice, Jack said: “You get someone’s ball sack, and you stretch it out. You get someone to lie beneath it. You get a Jaegerbomb and you pour it over their ball sack and someone has to drink it from beneath.”

Throwing eggs at a bartender and vandalising property 

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Former Cardiff University football player Fergus described how, when picking a place for a social, “we always go somewhere we know we’re never going to be invited back again.”

At his first social in second year, he recalls how one player threw an egg which ended up striking a female bartender in the face.

Rugby player Jack felt like his own club’s vandalisation of venues was justified. “I think it’s worth taking the smashed glasses and every now and again a toilet’s going to get fucked and the doors are going to come off because of the amount of money they make off us,” he said.

Locking freshers in a cupboard at their initiation

Much of the ongoings discussed in the podcast were not unique to initiations. In fact when the trio spoke of their own welcome ceremonies, the focus seemed to be more on drinking and less on hazing.

However…Jack described an initiation he hosted during which he locked first year students in a cupboard under the stairs.

“We’d get a fresher, lock him in there, put a strobe light on, put on some really heavy techno music and be like, you’re not coming out until these are all in colour co-ordinated order,” Jack said.

What happens on tour…gets revealed in a podcast

Jack spoke of further humiliation of first year students on his rugby tour. Older players wouldn’t allow the younger club members any bedding and would remove it from their hotel rooms. This included ripping the curtains from their rails.

And then there was the Gauntlet. This involved players trying to get to the back of a coach while being repeatedly punched and having their pants ripped off.

‘As bad as it sounds, it did just get rid of the people that they didn’t necessarily want there’

All three former students spoke of the heavy consumption of alcohol being commonplace at their respective clubs. Jack recalls how at his first social, freshers had their blood type and an emergency contact number written on their arms. When Jack arrived at the social, “some lads [were] throwing up after one pint and you look at them like you’ve got no chance.”

He later added: “We had loads of loads of players who wouldn’t drink and we wouldn’t make them. But if you come to it, you have to buy in.”

Podcast host and former Warwick University footballer James said: “If you want to be part of the side of it, that’s what it’s going to take.” Much of what James had to say about the sports socials he attended at university was bleeped out in the podcast.

At Fergus’s first ever social, freshers walked down an ally while being pelted with eggs and salad cream. “As bad as it sounds…it did just get rid of the people that they didn’t necessarily want there,” Fergus said.

James added: “It sorts the men from the boys.”

The podcast has been removed from YouTube and TikTok

After going to podcast host James for comment, the one hour episode in question disappeared from YouTube. As did the series of TikToks that had garnered thousands of views.

James told The Tab: “We understand how this episode could be taken out of context, however as the disclaimer at the start of the video said: ‘All stories discussed in this episode are a complete fabrication and none of them ever actually happened’ – and this is true, the podcast is purely for entertainment purposes.”

Warwick Uni ‘does not tolerate hazing’

A spokesperson for the University of Warwick said: “The University of Warwick does not tolerate hazing. All students who join the university agree to comply with our Dignity at Warwick policy, which outlines the values we expect our community to uphold, along with a code of conduct for the Students Union.

“Any report or complaint against a current student or staff member relating to a breach of our policies will be investigated and where proven, disciplinary action taken.”

‘Initiations have no place at Cardiff University’

A Cardiff University spokesperson said:  “We are not aware of the instances described in this podcast – and they appear to be historic. 

The events in this article are believed to have taken place between 2017-2020. Cardiff University Football Club, Warwick University Rugby Club and the two other people featured in the podcast have been contacted for comment.

Related articles recommended by this writer:

• ‘Vandalism, theft and drug taking’: Inside the Medic ball that descended into chaos

• Durham Uni rugby club facing investigation after fresher gets urinated on at a social

• Students who take part in degrading initiations could be jailed for torture