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A junior rugby player in Tauranga allegedly cut opponents with a shard of glass he hid in his fingers as he shook hands with them at the end of a game.
The Tauranga Sports Club last night confirmed it was investigating the bizarre incident, which allegedly happened at a match involving 10- and 11-year-olds at Welcome Bay last weekend.
The club's committee said a report that the piece of glass left five children with deep scratches up to 4cm long was correct. Committee member Dirk Zandstra said no children were hospitalised or required stitches, but a judicial panel had been convened to investigate.
"This is the first incident that has been reported to the judicial panel," he said. "The panel will be making a decision later this week. There is a process to go through."
Mr Zandstra confirmed that the parents of the two teams had met to discuss the matter.
Both teams were part of the Tauranga Sports Club, which has 19 junior teams, with children from 5 to 14 years old. The incident happened during the last game of the season and Mr Zandstra said it was up to the judicial panel to decide on the fate of the player allegedly responsible.
The panel was independent of the sports club but was below the level of the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union. A report on the incident was given to the panel by one of the team coaches yesterday.
Mr Zandstra was not aware whether police were investigating.
Senior Sergeant Wayne Mills said he was not aware of any complaint and that the incident would only be investigated if a complaint was made.