Rugby death felt in Wairarapa

PREPARED: Wairarapa Rugby Football Union chief executive Tony Hargood says the union takes concussions extremely seriously.

The death of a young rugby player after he suffered a head injury during a match in Whangarei has prompted the Wairarapa Bush Rugby Union to re-affirm its stance on player safety.

Otamatea Hawks rugby player Jordan Kemp, 17, died on Sunday at Auckland City Hospital, after a suspected head clash playing against Old Boys Marist in Whangarei on Saturday. The injury occurred about 15 minutes before the final whistle.

Otamatea club president Kevin Robinson told the NZ Herald it was unclear how the clash happened but he believed it was in general play, not from a tackle or scrum.

The teen fell down, but made it to his feet before staggering around and falling over again, he said.

Northland Rugby Union chief executive Jeremy Parkinson said representatives of the club had been with the family all day, and had offered counselling to them as well as team members and members of the opposing team.

"[On Saturday afternoon] there was a young, fit 17-year-old playing rugby and today he is not with us. That's hugely tragic." Wairarapa Bush chief executive Tony Hargood said he found the news of Jordan's death "gut wrenching".

He said the union had offered their condolences to Jordan's family and had been in touch with Mr Parkinson to offer support.

The union's stance was to do "all they can" to prevent head knocks happening in the first place, mainly through coaching proper technique so there was less chance of serious head clashes, he said.

"There are 169 coaches in Wairarapa. They must all take a Rugby Smart course, which teaches them to take concussion extremely seriously."

The course is a one-hour session with ACC, teaching injury prevention and concussion management. Coaches are not registered on the database until they have completed the course.

The official stance after a player has suffered a concussion is that "a player cannot return to training until three weeks after the incident or after medical clearance."

"We recognise that it is a contact sport. Our coaching is world class. We have the right equipment, and our coaches are educated and know how to manage players," Mr Hargood said.

He said the science behind concussion was that the brain "jars" inside the skull and head gear had been proven to be ineffective in preventing that.

Introducing compulsory head gear was not a likely measure the union would take but he said he did not discourage the use of head gear.

"It's about coaching correct technique," Mr Hargood said.

"A mouthguard is also very important, because it can reduce jarring."

Northland Rugby Union has been trialling a "blue card" system, whereby a player can be sent off immediately if a concussion is suspected.

Mr Hargood said that system was something the union was "seriously considering".

"Going forward, we will look at introducing the blue card. We monitor the team sheet closely [to make sure coaches are keeping to the concussion rules]."

"The union will always help support players and coaches".

The NZ Herald reported concussion expert Dr Rosamund Hill as saying there was a growing awareness around the risks associated with concussions.

"It does make people aware that there are risks in playing contact sport, and particularly rugby.

"In the past, it has been sort of ignored a bit and overlooked a bit, so I think there is definitely a growing awareness that it is a serious problem and it needs to be looked at very carefully."