Serious About Rugby League can confirm that the RFL will be investigating both Hull KR and St Helens after footage of fans from the two sides clashing after their game on Saturday emerged online.
It was a brilliant first Saturday of summer rugby with the sun beaming at Craven Park and the game matched in terms of quality too with Hull KR running out as 40-20 victors and cementing their status as serious title challengers.
The victory for Willie Peters’ side marked the second impressive win in a row after the Robins beat champions Wigan Warriors at Craven Park the week prior. Hull KR are making their home ground an absolute fortress this season with the narrow defeat to Warrington Wolves being the only blot on an otherwise perfect record.
Much of the reason for that incredible home record is the Craven Park faithful who get behind their team and get on top of the opponents, and even the referee at times with their infamous shouts of ‘FORWARD’ to the match officials.
The Hull KR fans have managed to record a number of sell-outs this season with the attendance at the weekend confirmed on Sky Sports as a whopping 10,500, however, a small section of those fans were involved in an altercation with St Helens fans in the immediate aftermath of the win.
Footage of that clash can be seen in this article here.
Ugly scenes ruin Hull KR victory with RFL set to investigate
Credit: Imago Images
After running out as 40-20 victors in the first instance of Saints conceding 40 points since the Kristian Woolf days, there was plenty to celebrate for Hull KR fans.
Equally, there was lots to be dismayed about for St Helens fans but that was no excuse for the ugly scenes post-match, which the RFL have now described as “disturbing”.
Footage shared on social media showed stewards having to separate a group of approximately 40 fans from clashing with pints and vapes being thrown between the two clashing sets of fans.
For a game where community, family and respect are such high priorities and selling points, the scenes were a big backward step after what was a brilliant advert for Super League.
As such, the RFL have now confirmed exclusively to Serious About Rugby League that they will be contacting both clubs.
They explained: “After becoming aware of disturbing clips on social media from Saturday’s match, the RFL will be contacting both clubs for their observations, in addition to considering the usual reports.”
That comes just a day after the RFL ruled on the incident between St Helens fans and a Leigh Leopards coaching staff member when the two sides met back in May.
The RFL sanctioned both sides for breaching Operational Rules with Saints found guilty of failings in their stewarding whilst Leigh coach Ste Maden was punished for bringing the game into disrepute.
Those fines were confirmed yesterday in a statement shared to the RFL website that can be read here.
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John R
May 6, 2024 at 2:12 pm
Clash??? Certainly beer was thrown (didn’t personally see vapes), lots of gestures and a few “come-ons” from the safety of the other side of the stewards but as far as I saw, there was no actual contact between opposite sets of fans which might be worthy of the word “clash” and the stewards did a pretty good job.
Still absolutely no excuse for it but could you please stick to facts rather than having a much stronger “ hook” in your headline to get people to read the article.