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NSW Rugby is investigating this month allegations of racist taunts directed at an Indigenous teenager during an Under-14 game that prompted the player’s mother to claim there is overt racism in the code.
A native boy was distraught after playing for Central West against the Manly Marlins in Orange during the NSW Junior Rugby Union Under-14 State Championship on June 14.
The NSW Junior Rugby Union said in a statement it was aware of allegations of racial slurs during the state championship game.Credit: Glen McCurtayne
The boy’s mother, who did not want his or her son’s identity revealed for fear of the impact it could have on her son’s well-being, immediately filed an official complaint after allegedly hearing from players opposition uttering racist insults against his son.
It broke my son’s heart … it broke my heart to see him like that, she wrote on Facebook. He stayed on the pitch and played the game, but when the whistle sounded he left the pitch completely broken and visibly in distress. I am furious … I am devastated. My boy just wants to play the game he loves. I have never seen him so visibly distressed as he was when he stepped out of that field.
The mother, who spoke to the Herald on Wednesday, said the referee did not hear the insults, nor the opposition coach.
The woman has filed a complaint with Central West Rugby, which has passed information on to NSW Rugby, which is undertaking a review. The mother was contacted directly by NSW Rugby on Wednesday afternoon.
From a manly point of view, we don’t tolerate racism, we never have.
Peter Gibson, President of the Manly Junior Rugby Union
A spokeswoman for the NSW Rugby competition said the referees’ microphones did not pick up anything, but video footage indicated something had likely been said.
It is not the first time. Hope this is the last. I doubt it, said the boy’s mother. My sons have played league, soccer, karate and union and the overt racism he experienced in the union is on a higher level. We don’t experience it in any other sport like union. The answer is always the same: Oh, we didn’t hear it, we didn’t quite know what it was.
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