A social football player is calling for urgent safety improvements at an Auckland college after a rugby crossbar struck him in the head six years ago – echoing a similar incident last weekend.
The man, who spoke to the Herald under the condition of anonymity, said he was outraged tosee it happen again at St Peter’s College, this time during a First XV rugby match against Liston College.
The recent incident occurred after players in a rolling maul made contact with the posts, dislodging the crossbar, which hit a visiting player and cut their head open.
Recalling his 2019 incident, the man said he was playing in a weekly Thursday night football tournament when he left the field and stood under the posts with some friends.
He doesn’t recall much afterwards as the crossbar fell and knocked him out. However, it’s believed a rogue ball struck the bar and brought it down on his head.
“There were actually two little kids to my left playing around and I essentially got in the way and prevented it from smacking them. God knows what sort of damage it would have done to them.”
The man, now in his 40s, said he was outraged to see a similar incident happen again and is calling on the school to ensure it doesn’t recur.
“It was such a freak accident,” he said. “When I saw it had happened again, I thought, ‘that’s insane’.
“Sooner or later, it’s going to kill someone and they’ll be held liable for it.”
St Peter’s College told the Herald it has “no recollection” of the 2019 incident, but the Epsom-based school acknowledged the most recent accident and said it was taking it seriously and has launched an investigation.
The Herald has spoken to another person who witnessed the 2019 incident and saw an ACC form claiming injury after a “pole from a rugby post fell and hit the back of head after being struck by the ball”.
St Peter's College in Auckland has launched an investigation after the most recent crossbar incident. Photo / Google Maps
The Herald has also seen a message from the man’s friend, who claims he found a bolt without a nut on the ground and that the ball hitting the post could have been the final straw in dislodging it.
“The ball might have clipped the post or something at the beginning of the game, but I mean that’s what it’s designed to do,” said the man, who has since recovered from his injury.
“It’s designed to sustain hits from a ball and driving malls and stuff like that. So you wouldn’t necessarily think anything of it, would you?”
Typically, crossbars are 3m from the ground and placed between two posts 5.6m apart.
The Liston College First XV player involved in the incident last weekend managed to stay on the field for 10 minutes before coming off feeling dazed.
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.
