A huge crowd of mourners on Saturday farewelled Feilding High School rugby star Robert Hickland who died after a 17-day fight for life after a serious neck injury in a game at Rathkeale College last month.
Among the crowd of about 1200 at the funeral at the school was New Zealand Rugby Union chairman Jock Hobbs, and the union's community rugby manager, former All Black Brent Anderson.
More than 1000 packed the hall, and the service, starting late to accommodate mourners and eventually lasting two hours, was watched on closed-circuit monitors in two classrooms at the 1340-pupil school, which boasts the country's top co-educational school first XV, of which the 17-year-old had been a member for three years.
Mourners saw clips of the young player in action, displaying the talents which won him selection this year in the New Zealand Under-17 squad, and a high-ranking contender for the New Zealand secondary schools side being chosen from the national regional schools tournament last week. The clips showed him scoring several tries from his regular position of fullback, in which he had scored one try and set-up another in the 10-15-minutes of play before suffering his injury in an away-game against Rathkeale College, near Masterton, on June 28. He was flown to Christchurch, remaining in the Intensive Care Unit until his death last Tuesday morning.
School head of rugby Rick Francis, a 1960s Wairarapa representative halfback, and brother of former international referee Bob Francis and Radio Network head Bill Francis, told mourners that Robert, known as Robsack to team-mates and Bonga to family, linked to the Cook Islands heritage on his mother's side, had been compared with Christian Cullen, and at times "was" the team.
He told how the team went into the "test match" of a UK tour in April as underdogs, but was lifted by the first of two tries by the young star and took control of the fixture, and won. "It was possibly the most significant win this school has had," he said.
Much of the service focused on the well-being of the players involved in the game, and their schoolmates, including long-time girlfriend Rachel Goss, who, along with her mother and Robert's parents, Mike and Pepe, had been at the player's bedside for much of the past three weeks, in the forlorn hope he would at least make it to Burwood Hospital to begin recovery work.
Robert's family urged that no players should take any blame and that there was no reason for anyone to give up their sport because of it. The NZRU is expected to examine recordings of the tackle, and the school, in conjunction with Robert's family, will consider other ways to commemorate him and how to best utilise funds amassed as Feilding rallied in the hope of helping Robert's rebilitation.
n A service will also be held at Rathkeale College tomorrow.
Rugby star bid farewell
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.