Friday's Chiefs-Hurricanes clash should have been called off in the wake of that day's horrific Christchurch shootings, Cane's coach John Plumtree says.
Hours after a gunman opened fire on two Christchurch mosques, leaving 50 dead and dozens more injured, the Chiefs hosted the Hurricanes in Super Rugby match, both sides playing out a 23-all draw on a night where rugby took a back seat.
Speaking today though, Plumtree told media that the effects of the attacks had taken their toll on the Hurricanes prior to the match.
When asked by 1 NEWS whether he thought in hindsight the match should have been cancelled Plumtree said, "Everything happened so quickly .... possibly not".
"[The shootings] caught everyone by surprise. I guess there wasn't enough time to make those types of decisions."
An emotional Plumtree said that support is being given to his players, many of whom unable to fathom what has happened over the last few days.
"It's absolutely tragic what's happened down there. Mind bogglingly tragic for this country to have something like that happen here."
"We're not taking it for granted that players don't want to talk about it [as] individuals. We're putting things in place."
Still though, life goes on for the Hurricanes, preparing to face the Stormers in Wellington this weekend.
For Plumtree though rugby was certainly been put into perspective in the draw against the Chiefs.
"Everyone was just following the news, chatting about it when we got back to the hotel.
"Rugby wasn't really on our minds at all. It was a tough night."
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