He said the fight had been building for a while. Auckland Grammar had been always just ahead on the scoreboard and some of De La Salle's supporters thought the referee was being too hard on their players. "They were twice our size but they couldn't beat us. We were ahead by one point."
They struggled to get away to the safe area where their coaches were standing, all the while being punched by the opposition.
"The coaches were saying 'get out of there, get over here' ... we didn't know what happened to the referee and the linesmen, we didn't know they were getting beaten up."
The 17-year-old referee was punched in the face.
Fahey said the supporters then seemed to turn on each other.
"The scariest thing was that they were fighting amongst themselves, punching each other and coming towards us. My girlfriend, who had little kids with her, called 111. The police were there within minutes."
The spectators were yelling abuse before the fight even broke out: "How will kids ever learn that this behaviour is not acceptable? And the parents came on as well, what was that about?"
Don Crawford, Auckland Rugby Referees' Association chairman, said the spectator responsible for punching the referee last year had never been found, but two De La Salle players were banned.
Auckland Rugby is soon to make an announcement about the school's efforts to stop such violence repeating, and Crawford said the school's principal had worked tirelessly on it.
But still it goes on: Just yesterday, at a game in Tauranga, an opposition player told Fahey's son he was going to get smashed. "It only happens if they lose," he said.
If you see remarkable behaviour on the sidelines this winter - good or bad - please get in touch at news@hos.co.nz
