📰 NZRU and former ABs star on dangers of new collision sport

By Natasha Gordon & Benjamin Plummer

New Zealand Rugby has warned Kiwis of the significant risks linked to a new “run it straight” sport, which has rival participants run at each other with full force.

Shane Christie, a former rugby star forced into retirement because of repeated head trauma, is concerned the sport may pose a risk of increased head injuries if done without appropriate measures.

“Run it straight” is touted as a new combat sport that attempts to mirror actions seen in rugby league, union and AFL matches.

It features opposing individuals – a ball runner and a tackler – run full speed at each other with the goal of trying to bowl each other over.

The Runit Championship League hosted its inaugural live tournament in Melbourne last night, and a similar event is set to come to New Zealand this month.

“New Zealand Rugby [NZR] does not have any association with the international Runit events or similar amateur events, which we believe carry significant risk of serious injury,” NZ Rugby told the Herald.

The concern comes after footage emerged last week of a man being knocked unconscious and suffering an apparent seizure during an event in Australia as hundreds of children watched on.

The ball runner cops a shoulder to the head and slumps to the floor, before suffering what appears to be an involuntary repeat arm-jerking movement as he is crowded by hundreds of spectators.

Runit told the Herald the incident captured in the video was in no way related to it and called it “quite distressing”.

Shane Christie on the risks of the "fun" sport
Christie wore the silver fern of the Māori All Blacks and All Blacks Sevens until severe post-concussion symptoms forced him into retirement when he was 32.

Christie has previously spoken to media about why he needs to donate his brain to medical science, following the post-concussion symptoms he lives with every day, which have left him unable to work.

Speaking last night, Christie told the Herald he was aware of the event after reading an article about someone having a seizure after a tackle.

“I think that they’ll have a few safety expectations around the tackle line, just like rugby or league.”

He said that if the organisers have criteria around collision technique, “I think it would be an interesting sport, I guess you can’t really take away the freedom for people to create a sport.

“I think it’s innovative and it’s exciting, they just need to be aware of the dangers and try and mitigate the risks the best they can.”

Christie said it was a “spectacle for the people who want to take that sort of risk, people want to have fun”.

“If that’s how they want to have fun, and they can do it safely, then good on them.”

Christie said if anyone was thinking about taking part in these events, they needed to “be wary, there is always a risk of having a brain injury in these collision sports”.

He thought a one-on-one collision could be safer than a “random” collision in rugby, where other players can get in the way and knock players off balance.

He said “run it straight” players wouldn’t have fatigue like they did in rugby and “it’s more about brute power”.

“I think it’s a fun sport... It’s nowhere near like boxing or MMA.”

Christie said the tackle height should be below the chest and player suspensions should happen when needed.

“Nobody wants to see someone knocked out like that guy did. You’ve just got to be wary of the brain.”

NZ Rugby advice
NZ Rugby said: “We encourage registered rugby players in Aotearoa to participate in matches and competitions run by and sanctioned by NZR and its member unions.

“Together, we deliver a range of programmes in our sport designed to minimise the risk of injury to our players, including world-leading head injury protocols and safe tackle technique programmes in the community game.”

One of New Zealand’s leading neuroscientists and a chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) expert, Dr Helen Murray, said there is clearly “a high risk of head injury in this event”.

“From a CTE standpoint, we know that exposure to repeated head acceleration events is the biggest risk factor for CTE pathology, and therefore finding ways to reduce these impacts in contact sports is a priority for player safety,” Murray said.

“It appears there is no attempt to mitigate head acceleration events in this activity and the risk of significant injury is high given the intent to collide, so I do not support it.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission