A visiting rugby team’s van was peppered with what appear to be shotgun rounds as they drove away from a Hawke’s Bay ground after their match was abandoned due to safety concerns.

A photo of the van, showing close to 50 holes in its back window and denting around the top back left corner, was shared with Hawke’s Bay Today on Sunday morning.

A witness said the Division 3 game between Tamatea Arikinui and Young Māori Party (YMP) at Bill Mathewson Park in Hastings on Saturday afternoon was abandoned 15 minutes early by the referee due to safety concerns.

Tamatea are Hastings-based and the YMP team are Raupunga-based and the round one clash was YMP’s first in the division for several years.

The witness, who said she doesn’t support either side but was there to watch as a neutral, said there was a visible Mongrel Mob presence among the crowd, but also numerous kids.

Despite Raupunga’s reputation as a Black Power town, the witness said the YMP side and supporters had no regalia, and she’d felt comfortable the game would proceed without incident.

She said it was played in good spirits until 15 minutes from the finish of the game, when a Tamatea Arikinui player was floored by a big tackle.

“A lot of the young supporters of Tamatea then ran onto the field and pulled out weapons including knives.”

A photo of the damage to YMP Division three rugby team's bus.

The witness said the Hawke’s Bay Rugby referee asked supporters to leave the field or he would end the game and when they didn’t, the game was abandoned.

The teams went back to their changing rooms and YMP and their supporters then left the park, but were followed by Tamatea Arikinui supporters who were hanging out of vehicles, brandishing weapons, the witness said.

“They were then chased by numerous vehicles of Mongrel Mob members and associates trying to ram YMP off the road, and they shot multiple rounds at their team van.”

It wasn’t the first time Tamatea Arikinui supporters had acted in an aggressive or intimidatory way, but it was a significant escalation and shouldn’t be “swept under the carpet”, she said.

A police spokesman said they were aware of an incident at a Hawke’s Bay club rugby game and would be able to provide more detail soon.

Hawke’s Bay Rugby CEO Jay Campbell said he was aware of an incident that happened between “spectators” at the Tamatea and YMP match.

“These issues are now being dealt with by the NZ Police, and we will leave it to the police to try and understand the facts and work through exactly what happened.”