Super Rugby
Bryan Habana slams abusive 'supporters'
ESPN Staff
April 3, 2013
The Crusaders' Matt Todd dives to score, Stormers v Crusaders, Super Rugby, Newlands Stadium, Cape Town, March 30, 2013
The Crusaders' Matt Todd dives to score during his side's win at Newlands © Getty Images
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Veteran Stormers and Springbok wing Bryan Habana has attacked elements of the Newlands crowd who hurled abuse at players following the side's 14-19 loss to the Crusaders at the weekend.

A small section of the crowd - known as the Cape Crusaders because of their support for the New Zealand franchise - targeted Stormers players at the end of the match.

Comment

  • It's not been a good few days for rugby in South Africa and crowd trouble, usually the domain of football, has reared its ugly head. The worst incident came last week in Durban was a fan was beaten to death after a Super Rugby game, but there have been reports of fights and scraps at a number of matches. The most worrying indictment of the situation has been that the events have become commonplace enough not to warrant media reports. Unchecked, this could quickly start turning off the family audience the game does so much to appeal to.

"I highly doubt there's any place in the world where you get booed off your bus, at your home stadium, by your 'fellow' countrymen," Habana posted on Twitter. "If I had the money I would happily buy all these 'Cape Crusaders' a one way ticket to Christchurch.

"And yet there are so many amazing, passionate, faithful supporters at Newlands. We really appreciate your support!"

Rob Wagner, Western Province Rugby's managing director, admitted he was aware of problems after the match. "We would like to apologise to any members of the crowd who were inconvenienced in any way on Saturday," he said. "We will never condone bad behaviour from anyone in the crowd at Newlands.

"There seems to be a history of incidents when the Stormers and the Crusaders play at Newlands and we are already in conversation with all role-players to ensure that we do not have a repeat of this in the future."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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