Irish U-19 rugby player dies

jd

19:25 Saturday March 27th 2004



An Irish rugby player has died on the same day the senior team won the Triple Crown.
John McCall of Royal School Armagh died after being withdrawn 20 minutes into Ireland's Under-19 World Cup match against New Zealand in Durban.

and

Rugby-Irish under-19 international dies in S.Africa
Sat 27 March, 2004 19:53

DUBLIN, March 27 (Reuters) - One of Ireland's most promising rugby players died on Saturday during an under-19 international in South Africa, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) said.

John McCall, 18, was injured when a scrum collapsed 20 minutes into Ireland's match against New Zealand in Durban.

McCall, who played for Armagh and provincial side Ulster, was rushed to hospital but died of his injuries. He was a nephew of former Irish international Brian McCall.

An IRFU spokesman said the news reached Dublin just minutes before Ireland took on Scotland in the Six Nations at Lansdowne Road.

The team were not told of the tragedy until after the match, which they won 37-16 to take the Triple Crown.

Tyrrial

such a sad way to finish the season

vibe666

tragic, it really is. was reading it in the paper just now. his uncle was actually on the irish team the last time they won the triple crown in 1985.

vorbis

a real tragedy. I watched the the ulster schools cup final and he seemed an excellent player. RIP

Hairy Homer

Terrible news. My heart goes out to his family, as I'm sure do those of all other parents of kids who play rugby.

Trojan

Terrible tragedy, very sad to hear about something like this

Initial reports say it was in open play - he picked from a ruck formed after the line out, was tackled and passed the ball, but never got up from the tackle and lapsed into unconsciousness on the ground. He was a flanker.

The squad are behind closed doors at the moment - the IRB haven't pressed for a decision as to whether Ireland will continue on in the tournament. His father has flown out to SA, so I'm sure he'll have some influence over the decision. They're thinking about withdrawing, but maybe it would be more respectful to continue on with the tournament. I'd say the most important thing will be the influence of the family, and should they want the team to continue then they should do so.

News links.

spanner

an awful tradgey. i was hoping that we would never have another one in world rugby again.

qwertyup

The team has withdrawn according to PlanetRugby

vibe666

i played U19's for my home town for 2 years, second row btw, and was carried off the pitch on a stretcher twice in that time (due mostly to my size and thingking i was invincible mostly) and broke my nose twice too. it's a rough game and people do get hurt, but people get hurt doing all kinds of things from mountaineering to playing golf its the risk you take for the things you are passionate about. very sad, but true. not much of aocmfort to his family im sure, but he died doing what he loved most, it's just a shame it had to happen at all.

Trojan

Yes, the team are coming home.

BBC Sport is also reporting cause of death as cardiac failure, according to the SA state pathologist:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/irish/3578459.stm

It has been confirmed that Ireland's under-19 flanker John McCall died from a heart problem.

The post mortem was brought forward from Tuesday to Monday and a pathologist confirmed that the teenager died from cardiac failure.

An IRB statement said that the player's death will be remembered by teams at the U19 World Cup tournament in Durban.

"As a mark of respect a minute's silence will be observed before each of the games on Wednesday," it said.

Meanwhile the Ireland squad will return home from South Africa following the death of the 18-year-old Royal Armagh School pupil.

The 18-year-old McCall is understood to have taken the ball at the tail of a line-out. He drove forward before being tackled around the ankles before laying the ball back to his team-mates.