Thoughts with his family........ Nick Tooth, 25, dies making tackle in Australian club match A 25-year-old fly-half has died after suffering a head injury while making a tackle for his Australian club side. Quirindi Lions' Nick Tooth was airlifted to hospital after a clash of heads while playing Narrabri Blue Boars on Saturday, and died despite surgery. "There was no foul play, nothing untoward about it at all. Sadly it was just a very tragic accident," club president Charles Murray told ABC, Australia's public broadcaster. "He was a lovely kid." Former Wallabies scrum-half Nick Farr-Jones said the New South Wales Rugby Union - which he chairs - would provide "ongoing" support to Tooth's family.
Very sad. Given the commitment that rugby players give at all levels, I'm a little surprised that this doesn't happen more often. My lad started training for sevens this week after a year off (and being headhunted for a new club...in a pub, of course). Despite numerous texts and voice messages we didn't hear from him for a few days and 'head injury' crossed my mind. Of course the twat had left his phone at work and he turned up as usual to stuff his face yesterday. Sometimes wonder whether his shocking short term memory is due to a concussion he suffered playing when he was 12, which was genuinely scary. But it's more likely to be the dope.
I played inside centre for my TA reg. Managed to never get a bad injury. (apart from it's accumulative effect that I'm sure contributed to my now crumbling spine) Concussion is a dodgy thing. (got it boxing for my reg.) Your probably right on the dope thing though. (that buggered my memory far more than anything else.)
A young lad my daughter was at school with ended up quadriplegic after a collapsed scrum in a county under 16s match back in around 1990. It's a game that can often produce freak accidents and there's calls for schools rugby to eliminate the physicality altogether...
Unfortunately accidents like these do happen but in the majority those involved get up and walk away uninjured. Sadly there will always be the odd time when serious injury or worse occurs and our thoughts go out to those involved. In the last 20 years rugby has become far more brutal than when i played, sure I had injuries, 3 broken collarbones, numerous stitches and it all probably contributed to the hip replacement i had 5 years ago, but the scaryist was concussion which I only had once when I copped a boot to the back of the head. To this day I have no idea what happened for around 30 minutes or so, apparently I played on, but I only came round when someone threw water on my face. I went to hospital but in those days you were told to go home and take an asprin........!!!!. I played again the following Saturday. The lead on concussion has to come from the IRB and they have to start taking notice of medical opinion regarding brain trauma. There has to be a mandatory period, maybe 6 - 8 weeks when someone suffering from concussion doesn't play, what happened with George North in the Wales/England game was a disgrace but winning at professional level is at all costs. Apparently he was knocked out playing for Northampton again a few weeks ago, he should now be stood down for the rest of the season. The problem nowadays is that players are so huge, 6' 8" 18 stone wingers, when I played that would be a 2nd row forward, and the tackles are far more brutal, the idea seems to be to run into an opponent rather than try and find a gap and it will not now ever be turned back from that. Sadly these sort of happenings will become far more common.
Can't say I agree with that after playing prop and second row through school. These rare tragedies are terrible but, to play, rugby is a great game and teaches kids a lot of good things, as football does. ****ing woeful sport to watch though.
With rugby players now resembling American football players in physique and weight, I wonder how long it will be before some sort of padded headgear becomes mandatory. Players at top level seem to be pretty strapped up under their shirts against impact injuries at least.
Horrible news. RIP Nick. When I was fifteen the scrum collapsed and a mate of mine suffered a break to his 'c' spine. His life support was switched off a week later. Maybe this happens more often than we're aware going by some of the tales on here. I'm glad that due to my build I was played right wing.
Lad I went to school with broke his neck when the scrum collapsed while playing for his army regiment - two weeks after his 18th birthday. He has some movement in his right arm, but nothing in his left or legs. Fair few years ago now of course, but as you say nines - more common than people think.
