Players recover after knocks

Two under-13 rugby players were airlifted to Whangarei Hospital from Maungaturoto. Photo / Nest

Two boys airlifted to Whangarei Hospital after being hurt in a rugby game at Maungaturoto are now recovering at home.

One of the young players had a suspected head injury and the other a neck injury.

The teammates were hurt in separate on-field incidents while playing for Maungaturoto's under-13 side against Wellsford on Saturday, in support of the Otamatea Hawks senior game.

A third player in an under-14 match, understood to be from Whangarei Boys' High School, was later taken to hospital by ambulance after a head knock.

In the earlier incident, Maungaturoto teammates gave the boys a stirring haka as they were taken on to the rescue helicopter, team manager Karyn Hodgson said.

The game was called off half an hour into the first half.

Northland Rugby Union operations manager Kyal Collins, who was at the event, said it was a relief to hear yesterday the boys had been discharged from hospital.

The boy with the head injury had been drifting in and out of consciousness and will now have a mandatory 23-day stand-down. Mr Collins did not know whether he hit his head in a tackle but said at least 80 per cent of the new "blue card" incidents for head injuries involved clashes in tackles.

His teammate who hurt his neck had just come out of a ruck and may have taken a post-tackle knock.

Mr Collins said the club had good systems in place. The injuries come almost a year after the death of Otamatea Hawks player Jordan Kemp. The 17-year-old died in hospital after he was knocked out during a match. Club president Kevin Robinson said that tragedy was on everyone's mind as the two young players were rushed off to hospital on Saturday.