A series of highly inappropriate actions by players of the Chiefs rugby team earlier this week has highlighted the need for children, and society generally, to be better role models to young, highly impressionable and totally incapable adults such as rugby players, says the team’s CEO, Andrew Flexman.
“Obviously, in the last 24 hours, some really serious allegations have surfaced about some conduct in respect to our players, and we are taking those allegations extremely seriously,” he told media today.
“I just think this goes to show, and highlights that, when you’re dealing with players like ours, who are very impressionable, not experienced in real life, really not at all capable of thinking for themselves most of the time, they can sometimes be very adversely affected by the role models they look up to, such as high school children, and fuckwits generally.”
All Blacks coach and sufferer of chronic depression Steve Hansen weighed in on the situation today, saying that what high school kids and fuckwits are seen to be doing can have “flow-on effects.”
“I’ve spent a lot of time with boys like these over the years, as you know,” he said, “and while I don’t have the facts on hand, what I can say is this: the boys really look up to people like high school kids from all-boys schools, and they look up to fuckwits, and so when fuckwits and schoolboys behave in a certain way, rugby players can get the idea that it’s acceptable behaviour, and I think we have to be very conscious of that.”
He called on fuckwits everywhere to be “more conscious” of their actions, and perhaps participate in advertising campaigns to let rugby players know it’s not okay.
“It’s something we do need to look at as a kind of social outreach.”
Margaret Comer, spokesperson for Chiefs sponsor Gallagher Group, took a stronger stance against school children.
“It really is their fault, ultimately,” she said. “It’s all good and well to blame the Chiefs, but you have to ask, more importantly, where they get their cues from, and that’s where I think the real repercussions need to lie.”
Andrew Flexman said that the investigation being conducted by the team would look at punishments for both players “and children, and society generally.”
“I’d just like to add, for the record, that none of this probably would have happened if we’d beat the Hurricanes,” he said. “It would’ve happened next week instead.”