Pitch invasion occurred during New Zealand’s quarter-final victory over Wales, in front of dozens of children
New Zealand Rugby has vowed to tighten security measures for the remainder of the women’s World Cup after a naked streaker gatecrashed the Black Ferns’ quarter-final victory over Wales.
The male intruder ran onto the pitch in the 65th minute at Northland Events Centre in Whangarei before being apprehended by security officials and escorted out of the stadium.
NZR is responsible for all matchday security as the local organising committee for the World Cup. Despite insisting “rigorous” measures were in place to ensure fan and player safety, the union stressed that security staff would remain on high alert during the semi-finals on Saturday at Eden Park and at the final on November 12.
In a statement, NZR said: “Precautions were taken to prevent security breaches, however in this rare instance we were unable to stop a pitch invader from accessing the field. Fortunately, vigilant security staff were able to apprehend the pitch invader promptly and escort them from the field without delay.