Australia
Young player dies after suffering head injury
ESPN Staff
April 20, 2015

A 25-year-old rugby player in Central New South Wales has died after collapsing from a tackle during a Central North first grade match on Saturday. Nicholas Tooth suffered a head injury while playing for the Quirindi Lions and was airlifted to Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital in a critical condition.

Police said Mr Tooth had suffered an apparent head injury when he clashed his head with the opposition's shoulder and died in hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Mr Tooth was reportedly visiting family in Wallabadah in the New England region of NSW and was not scheduled to play for the club but decided to compete for the first grade side.

Quirindi Lions football club President, Charles Murray, told ABC that the tackle was a tragic accident and there was "nothing untoward".

"It really was just a tragic accident, Nick went in to tackle an opponent and his head clashed with [the opponent's] shoulder and he went down," Mr Murray said. "There was no foul play, nothing untoward about it at all, sadly it was just a very tragic accident."

Australian Rugby Union is offering assistance to the club and counsellors would be available to affected players.

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