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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Simon Thomas

Violent 30-man rugby brawl erupts and four sent off amid appalling scenes

There were appalling scenes of violence during a French club match on the weekend as two huge brawls saw no fewer than four players red carded.

The game was the Fédérale 1 local derby clash between Hyères-Carqueiranne and La Seyne sur Mer in the Var region down in the south east of France.

Things turned nasty on 55 minutes when the first big fight broke out, resulting in red cards for a player from either side.

Then, just five minutes later, all thirty players were involved in a mass brawl which resulted in two more sendings off - again one from each team.

Veteran Samoan winger David Smith, who had a long career at the top level with the likes of the Hurricanes, Toulon and Casters, is now with Hyères-Carqueiranne.

He posted a video of one of the shocking scraps, filmed from the stand, on his Twitter account.

It shows the violence spilling over on to the running track at the side of the pitch, with players flying in and throwing punches amid a number of separate altercations.

Smith commented: “Welcome to rugby in the south of France. It reminds me of our village matches in Samoa.

“Come on, let’s play rugby and if you want to fight, go boxing”

As for the outcome of the match, well it finished 22-6 to Pool 2 leaders Hyères-Carqueiranne, but it won’t be the result that’s remembered from this game.

Want the latest Welsh rugby news sent straight to you? Look no further.

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