Samoan rugby player Faiva Tagatauli dies of head injury
The 27-year-old spent four days in hospital after sustaining the injury playing for Vaimoso Rugby Club against Vailele
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Your support makes all the difference.A former Samoa under-20 rugby player has died of a head injury after a club match in Samoa.
Faiva Tagatauli, 27, died Thursday, four days after sustaining the injury while playing for the Vaimoso Rugby Club against Vailele at Tuana’imato near the Samoa capital Apia on Saturday.
Tagatauli was replaced after feeling unwell about 10 minutes from the end of the match. He collapsed on the sideline and was taken to the Samoa National Hospital where he died on Thursday morning.
Samoa Rugby Union chief executive Faleomavaega Vincent Fepulea’i told the Samoa Observer that Tagatauli’s death was a “wakeup call” to all involved in rugby in Samoa.
“Do not take anything for granted around that area (of head injury),” Fepulea’i said. “The game has become faster and more physical over the last 10 years or so, the contacts are more intense.
“It’s up to the coaches to prioritize the welfare of the players over the team.”
Fepulea’i reached out to Tagatauli’s wife Seutatia in a statement released by the Samoan Rugby Union.
It read: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Faiva’s wife Seutatia, and their son as well as their family at Fagamalo at this time.
“We also express our condolences to the Vaimoso Rugby Club who have lost a popular team-mate.”
Tagatauli’s death is the fifth to be reported in rugby union since May last year, following four tragedies across French rugby.
Nathan Soyeux, a 23-year-old university student at ESIREM Graduate School of Materials Engineering, Sustainable Development and Computer Science in Dijon, was injured while being tackled by an opponent in a match on 24 November last year.
He was placed in a medically-induced coma, but when doctors attempted to waken him his health deteriorated and he died earlier this month.
In December, Stade Francais academy flanker Nicolas Chauvin died after breaking his neck in a tackle, which led to the 18-year-old suffering a cardiac arrest.
In August, Louis Fajfrowski died after collapsing in the changing room shortly after being replaced during a match while playing for Aurillac.
Fajfrowski had been involved in a heavy tackle that forced him off the field, and an investigation ruled an accidental death from “lethal fibrillation”, with a large blow to the chest causing a change to the rhythm of his heart beat.
Last May, 17-year-old amateur Adrien Descrulhes died after receiving a blow to the head while playing for Billom.
The FFR took action in December to form a global forum alongside World Rugby in the wake of Chauvin’s death, which will take place in March and look to evolve the game’s laws in order to make the sport safer for all.
Reuters
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