The chairperson of Never Despair Rugby Club has condemned the stabbing of one of their players in a league fixture on Saturday.
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Loose forward Ruan Rass was stabbed twice by an unknown assailant at the start of the second half of their League A fixture against Porterville at the Alfa Street Stadium over the weekend.
The game was subsequently called off after the incident.
Club chairman Lance Levendal said that he had been focusing on the game when he saw the assailant run onto the field to stab Rass before running off again.
‘I’ve been with Never Despair for a long time in different capacities and that kind of incident was the first for me in club rugby,’ he told News24.
‘I’ve been a player at this club and now I’m the chairman and it’s definitely the first time. You simply can’t prepare for something of that nature.’
‘No security is enough for someone coming from home, with such a plan in mind where they want to run on the field and stab someone.’
According to Levendal, Rass has worked hard to turn his life around in the past eight years, adding that he was confident of a full recovery, despite finding himself at an emotional and mental crossroads after the attack.
‘He was in top form and that’s why it was such a painful experience for him because the guy comes a long way and we’ve seen his growth,’ Levendal said.
‘We’ve witnessed his growth first hand and for something like this to put him several steps back is heart-breaking.’
‘He’s confident in terms of his recovery, but he’s also scared as well.’
‘He’s in a difficult place at the moment.’
Levendal further lamented the Swartland Municipality’s lack of support when it comes to providing adequately fenced facilities to protect players.
‘We visited Ruan on Monday night to give him a sense of comfort, along with the fact that he’s going to be OK,’ he added. ‘This is not an isolated incident.’
‘We know such things can happen to anyone because you don’t know who is playing what on the outside.’
‘That’s the unfortunate part and that’s why we’re meeting the municipality to discuss ways and means to isolate such incidents and the general public from the players.’
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