St Bede's College Rugby: A History of Violence and Abuse.

In a country where being the captain of the national rugby team bestows you the title of ‘New Zealander of The Year’ it will come as little surprise that secondary schools get all weak at the knees over the performance of their first fifteens. 

More-ever secondary schools jump at the chance to publicise success of their rugby teams, even offering scholarships for top players, rather than say top mathematicians. 

I mean who really cares about trifling matters like scholastic subjects?  

So parading and lauding your top rugby players as being the epitome of what the school represents is the norm. 

More-so single sex boy’s schools. 

Like St Bede's College a private integrated Catholic boys-high school down in Christchurch.  

If the school name sounds familiar think two litigious parents and that rowing coach the southern decile 9 so-called college left out to dry. 

St Bede's Rugby has a history of serious off-field violence, controversy which ‘the wider Bedean’ family would rather was wiped under the carpet.  

Beadeans as they gormlessly like to be known and the rugby community would rather prefer we knew just about their ex best-in-show All Blacks, sundry old-boys that have done good. 

 

Not scum-bags who use to scrum down.   

Diddums to that revisionist approach.   

Not least the 2005 assault of the current rector by what was termed by The Christchurch Press at the time as; ‘two unknown mystery assailants.’  

Really Rector Justin Boyle?  

Hand on a St James bible?    

Far be it for me to suggest these two thugs were ‘sporty-type’ ex pupils of Mr Boyle and the case stalled because of the ‘tarnishing’ scandal that would ensued had it gone to court and everyone knew how some St Bede's old-boys act.     

Then there was the brutal assault by the former captain of the St Bede's first XV captain in 2010. A charge which was upgraded to injuring in circumstances where, if death had occurred, he would have been guilty of manslaughter. 

A year later after losing to Wesley College (Pukekohe) members of the St Bede's First VX aided by fellow pupils engaged in on-line racial abuse.

Now we come to the latest case, involving Tyrone Davies a player St Bede's ironically poached from another South Island school.  

Rugby junketing Davies is awaiting sentence in Ireland after admitting ‘glassing' a patron at a pub. 

That’s right he smashed a broken glass into some poor Irish punters face.  

Tyrone clearly benefited from the ‘core values’ instilled during his time at St Bede's College.  

What a disgraceful legacy St Bedes has produced from its rugby ranks.