Heavy metal bassist 'does a Buck Shelford'

Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije of Dutch symphonic metal band Delain. Photo / Getty Images

A bassist in a heavy metal band has mimicked the efforts of All Black Buck Shelford and continued playing a gig after tearing his scrotum.

NME.com reported Otto Schimmelpenninck, a member of Dutch metal band Delain, tore his scrotum after being accidentally hit in his groin by a streamer cannon during a concert.

Like Buck Shelford's efforts during the All Blacks test against France in 1986, Schimmelpenninck finished the concert despite being in agonising pain.

He wrote on Facebook: "In my enthusiasm I did not pay attention, and happened to be VERY close when the streamer fired. It hit me from the back, in my genitals. Although pain was pretty bad right away, I was merely pissed off at myself for not paying attention.

"During the next song, pain got worse though, and I had the feeling I was bleeding. Pretty soon pain got to the point where I could barely stay conscious anymore ...

"After the show the damage was more obvious: my scrotum was the size of a big grapefruit and I was in a lot (yeah, really a lot) of pain ... It appeared my left testicle had been ruptured as well as some arteries. More than 500ml of blood was removed from my scrotum and my testicle stitched up."

Shelford's efforts against France have become iconic in All Black lore. After his scrotum was ripped open a testicle was hanging free, he left the field, was stitched up and returned to keep playing.

- nzherald.co.nz