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'Bleeding heavily' - more details of tunnel brawl emerge as Californian police called in
By Ian Cameron
Californian police are now investigating the tunnel brawl that left a Welsh Sevens player unfit to continue in the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in San Francisco yesterday.
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Further details of the altercation that saw Tom Williams removed from play have also emerged.
Williams, who was withdrawn by Wales ahead of the final day of the competition, was described as ‘bleeding heavily’ following what appears to have been a fairly one-sided brawl in the tunnel of the AT&T Stadium.
According to reports Williams wasn’t the only player involved in the fracas, and the Californian Police Department are now involved.
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Tom Williams said to be "bleeding heavily" after the alleged assault. This is ugly. #RWC7s
https://t.co/pczfLDaHQw— Ali Stokes (@alistokesmedia) July 23, 2018
The incident happened following Wales’ game with Samoa, which they won 24-19.
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The Welsh Rugby Union have issued a statement saying that Samoa have “provisionally suspended one of their players.”
“After medical assessment relating to the incident, Tom Williams was ruled out of the match against Ireland,” the statement added.
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The Samoan player that was suspended was Gordon Langkilde, who took also no further part in the tournament.
Williams Welsh teammate Luke Treharne told The Independent that a number of other players had also been injured.
“There was an incident. I am not sure how much I can say but a couple of our boys were pretty seriously injured at the end of it, and the police are involved,” he told the newspaper.
“It was shock. When everything comes out you will see all the details of it – it is pretty shocking stuff.”
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World Rugby have stated: “World Rugby can confirm that a Samoa player has been provisionally suspended from Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 following an initial investigation into an alleged incident in the tunnel area after a match between Samoa and Wales at AT&T Park on Saturday.
“The alleged behaviour is not aligned with the sport’s values and the excellent spirit in which this competition has been played by the 40 participating teams.
“World Rugby has instigated an investigation and it would be inappropriate to make any further comment until the conclusion of that process. The Samoa player will remain provisionally suspended until the final conclusion of that process.”
