Bournemouth University rugby training session disrupted by drunk man who invaded pitch

The man attempted to punch one player several times before being restrained by the team

1 year ago

Bournemouth University rugby players were attacked by a drunk man during their training session last week.

A man invaded the pitch at Meyrick Park on the evening of Thursday 12th October, throwing punches at players and using racial and homophobic slurs towards both players and coaches, Bournemouth Buzz reports.

Arriving at the pitch drunk and covered in blood, the man targeted one of the players by following him and attempting to punch him numerous times.

Police arrived after 3o minutes and arrested the man, whose identity remains undisclosed. The man continued to be aggressive towards the players and the female police officers. The players were shaken up but unharmed.

Conor Jeje, a first team player for Bournemouth University was on the sidelines and helped deal with the man.

He explained how the man targeted one player, Max Brain, and attempted to punch him multiple times, yet Brain walked away and did not engage.

Conor spoke of the team being “quite shaken up” and said: “Our coach’s main priority was our safety. He halted the training until six of us were able to hold the guy to the floor whilst we waited for authorities to arrive.”

Murray Jardine, a second team player for the Bournemouth University team said: “We have never had anything like this happen before. SportBU have already offered us support and checked we were all alright which has definitely helped some of the guys feel better about what happened.”

Dorset police collected players’ details for further updates and questions.

Featured image via @bu_rugby on Instagram.