Rugby prop broke rival’s jaw with a ‘sly punch’, court hears
ARUGBY player has gone on trial accused of breaking an opponent’s jaw with a “sly punch” during a match.
Pontardawe RFC prop-forward Sion Keiron Jones is alleged to have attacked Ferryside second row Chris Roger in an off-the-ball incident.
The Carmarthenshire player was knocked unconscious in the final moments of the game between the two teams, and subsequently needed surgery to fit metal plates and screws to his jaw.
Jones, 34, denies a count of inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Swansea Crown Court heard that in October 2017 the two sides met in a league match in Pontardawe.
Around the 78th minute of the match a ruck formed in the Ferryside half of the pitch – moments later Mr Rogers, who was standing some 10 metres behind the ruck, was punched in the side of the head.
It is the prosecution case that Jones delivered a “sly punch” to the side of his opponent’s face as he looked the other way – the defence maintain it is a case of mistaken identity, and the defendant was in fact at the bottom of the ruck and nowhere near the victim at the time.
Day one of the trial heard evidence from a number of players, including the victim.
Mr Rogers told the court the game had been “hard-fought” like most matches are, and that Pontardawe was a “tough place to go to play rugby”.
He said all he remembered was talking to a team-mate then wakingup on the pitch – he described how he could feel his jaw was swollen,
there was blood coming from his mouth, and with his tongue he could feel bone in his mouth.
The court also heard from fellow Ferryside second-row forward Rhodri Thomas.
He said he saw a “small fight” break out at the ruck, then saw a Pontardawe player run towards Mr Rogers.
He said: “I saw a player come around the side of the ruck straight towards Chris. The player threw a punch which connected with his jaw.”
Asked by Robin Rouch, for the prosecution, which Pontardawe player was responsible, the witness said it was the player wearing number one on his shirt.
Challenged by David Singh, for the defence, the witness said he was not mistaken about the identity of the assailant.
He agreed that others player wore shirts with a number one on them as part of their numbers – namely 10 to 15 – but said they were all backs, and the person he saw had the build of a prop.
Also giving evidence was Neil Davies, the Ferryside hooker, who told the court he saw the incident out of the corner of his eye – he said he saw the Pontardawe number one swinging a punch which hit his team-mate on the head.
Ferryside prop forward Stewart Peebles also gave evidence to the jury.
He said he saw the Pontardawe number one hitting his teammate with a “clenched fist”.
He said he had scrummaged with the defendant for some 79 minutes that day and had talked him to during the match, adding players in the scrum often get on better with opposition forwards than with their own backs.
He said: “I had around 20 scrums during the game with him [the defendant]. I was talking to him. I knew him before I saw his number. It was the prop. I recognised him straight away.”
Jones, of Min y Rhos, Ystradgynlais, denies inflicting grievous bodily harm, and the trial continues.