Union not amused at southern exposure

Southland rugby players involved in a naked romp at Rugby Park in Invercargill have been slapped on the wrist by the Southland Rugby Football Union.

About 10 players were spotted celebrating their survival in the first division with antics that included a haka, martial arts and strapping naked rookie Ashley Barron to the goalposts.

Union chief executive Roger Clark said the union did not condone the behaviour of the players.

"We've talked to the players and the management," Clark said.

But the incident was certainly not as serious as situations other unions had been forced to deal with, he said.

"If this is all I've had to deal with after 11 months of camp with these guys ... then that's pretty good.

"When you're dealing with a bunch of young guys there's always going to be some issues and you try to limit them as much as you can."

Clark said he had received only a couple of phone calls complaining about the incident.

"Out of 90,000-odd people in the province, it shows there aren't too many Southlanders out there that have an issue with it."

Invercargill Licensing Trust chairman Ray Harper, a Southland rugby stalwart, said he had never seen such antics before.

Harper is a former All Black and Southland rugby team manager and past chairman of the union.

"I can't say I'm impressed by it at all," he said.

"I guess it was the end of the season and they got a bit excited.

"I've never seen it before ... it's a whole new world I'm living in, maybe I'm just getting old."