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A high school rugby player from Mookgophong -- formely known as Naboomspruit in the Limpopo province -- who knocked a referee unconscious by headbutting him, has been banned from rugby for three years.
A Blue Bulls Rugby Union disciplinary committee adjudicated the matter in Pretoria on Monday night and banned the 17-year-old matric boy for ten years, of which seven were suspended.
The boy, a pupil at Hans Strijdom High School, pleaded guilty to assaulting the referee, 37-year-old Chris de Beer, during a match earlier this month.
De Beer, a member of the Blue Bulls Rugby Referee's Society, was unconscious for some time, and had to be treated by paramedics on the field.
