Trio hospitalised after club rugby brawl

Three Romanian rugby players were hospitalized after a fight broke out between players in a Central and Eastern European Rugby Cup match, an official said Monday.

The incident took place Sunday afternoon in the western city of Arad during a match between CSU Arad and RCM Timisoara.

Danut Borzas, manager of RCM said by telephone the players started punching and kicking each other about 20 minutes into the match. Players on the bench joined the brawl. One player, Daniel Zamfir, was hospitalized with head injuries. Another player had a broken nose and the third sustained facial injuries and had several
teeth knocked out.

"We received threats before the match," Borzas said. "We have three players in hospital. They were punched and thrown to the ground and then kicked."

Borzas said he would send a complaint to the Romanian Rugby Federation and possibly also to the International Rugby Federation.

The Romanian federation declined to comment.

Timisoara won the match 42-16.

SAPA