Cardiff Uni Rugby Club committee step down and socials suspended for the rest of term

Committee members of Cardiff University’s Rugby Club have stepped down and the team’s socials have been suspended for the rest of term.

This comes after Cardiff SU temporarily banned students wearing blue shirts and chinos following an incident of  “dangerous behaviour” on Wednesday 4th October.

The Rugby Club claim to The Tab Cardiff that its members have “voluntarily” stepped down with the SU saying that currently no uni clubs are under investigation for the incident and that the two instances are “unrelated”.

The incident that took place last month was alleged to have happened in the queue before YOLO, and was described by the SU as “reckless, dangerous, and incredibly irresponsible”.

An eyewitness and a member of the Rugby Club told The Cardiff Tab at the time: “A load of freshers were waiting in the queue for the SU last Wednesday, and they had a bit too much to drink.

“There was about 10/15 of them that started a ‘maul’, so essentially it was a load of boys pushing against each other in the queue tackling each other.”

Now, members of the Rugby Club have been asked to not host any “social activity in the club’s name” until after Christmas whilst the club works “collaboratively” with the university and unions.

A member of the Rugby Club told The Tab Cardiff that when socials do return they will be supervised by the Athletic Union. When approached for comment, the club and the union neither confirmed nor denied this.

A spokesperson for the Students’ Union told The Tab Cardiff: “The Students’ Union is proud to support over 60 sports teams and 200 student societies each year, these activities positively contribute to the student experience at Cardiff University.

“It would not be right to comment on any individual complaints that are being handled with any of our sports teams or societies. However, to be clear, no club is currently under investigation over the nightclub incident which led to a temporary clothing restriction. Any complaints or restrictions given to any club will be in response to wholly unrelated events.

“As with all our activities, our paramount concern is to maintain a safe and inclusive environment for all members of our community. If any allegations of inappropriate behaviours arise, they are treated with the utmost seriousness and in accordance with our established procedures. ”

A Cardiff University RFC spokesperson told The Tab Cardiff: “We are working collaboratively with the Students’ Union, Athletic Union, and the university to develop a positive and inclusive environment for all members of the club.

“To enable this to be the case, the committee have voluntarily stepped away from positions and asked that members do not have social activity in the club’s name until after Christmas.

“We do look forward to supporting the boys on the field and hopefully celebrating some wins this week in tough fixtures.”

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Students wearing blue shirts and chinos banned from Cardiff SU after ‘dangerous behaviour’

• What your Cardiff Uni night out says about you 

• If you wear any of these five items on Cardiff’s campus then you need to sort yourself out