Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Player welfare advocates are defending rugby's safety record after the tragic death of a senior club player in east Auckland at the weekend.
Father-of-three Cory Heather suffered a severe brain injury during an under-85 kilogram club game at Beachlands on Saturday afternoon.
He died a day later in hospital, surrounded by friends and family.
The New Zealand Rugby Foundation is coordinating support for both the man's whanau and players and officials rocked by the tragedy.
The 33-year-old was in action for Beachlands Maraetai in their game against Patumahoe at Te Puru Park when he sustained the head injury.
He was then airlifted to Auckland City Hospital in a critical condition.
The New Zealand Rugby Foundation is a charity that does safety research and campaigning and states it has helped 117 badly injured players over the years.
Chief executive Lisa Kingi-Bon said its immediate focus is looking after those affected.
"It's a tragic event.
"It's a day-by-day process but we're solely focused on the family, those clubs, match officials and the rugby family at large, which demonstrates that rugby takes care of its own."
The circumstances of the fatal injury were not yet known but it was reportedly caused by an accidental knee to the head.
Kingi-Bon said a full investigation would take place but it was too early to speculate on the potential upshot.
"The instant focus on the family and the players, but in due course a proper investigation will occur.
"It's way too early to even start assuming this, or guessing that," she said.
"It's a very clear process to try and ascertain what happened, but we know there is no foul play."
Before this latest tragedy, a dozen New Zealand rugby players had died on the field, more than half linked to heart-attacks between 2017 and 2022.
Five more players have suffered fatal injuries on the field, linked to head or spinal-related damage.
The last player to die from a head injury was 19-year-old Wellington colts player Daniel Baldwin in 2017.
A coronial investigation into the death - released in 2020 - did not make any recommendations for things that could be done in future to stop similar tragedies.
Former New Zealand Rugby Foundation chair Gerard van Tilborg touched on the uphill battle the game's administrators had around "head trauma and concussion", in its 2022 annual report.
"The pressure in the area to find ways to minimise risk whilst continuing to encourage people to play this great game is obvious.
"The public perception is negative despite the clarity of evidential scientific proof either way."
Kingi-Bon said as terrible as the tragedy was, severe head-related injuries on the rugby field remained rare.
"There are 147,000 registered rugby players in New Zealand, our first injured player is on record from 1966.
"There's risk in everything in life."
The foundation said only one traumatic brain injury reported to ACC had been linked to rugby over the past five years.
Kingi-Bon defended rugby as a code when it comes to player welfare.
"Rugby gets a bad wrap, because it's rugby.
"But at the end of the day, as a code, we do a lot and we do more than most, in terms of keeping our players safe and constantly being proactive in terms of searching for good solutions."
Both New Zealand Rugby and the Counties Manukau Rugby Union (CMRFU) said they were working with the Foundation to offer support to both the club and the man's family.
CMRFU chief executive Chad Shepherd said the union's "heartfelt thoughts and condolences were with Cory's family, loved ones, team-mates and the Beachlands Maraetai Rugby Club at this extremely difficult time".
The Te Puru Park fields have been closed until Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki carry out a whakawātea and perform a tikanga over the space during the coming days.
A Givealittlepage had raised nearly $90,000 for the man's partner and three children as of Monday night.
