Rugby Union - by Craig Hill

Sosene Anesi kept trying to "crack" his back, thinking it might ease the pain in his shoulder during last Friday's Super 14 rugby match in Hamilton.

The pain stemmed from a crunching fifth-minute tackle on Hurricanes winger Ma'a Nonu. Bone-crunching, as it turned out...Anesi's neck was broken.

On Tuesday the Chiefs fullback walked out of Waikato Hospital with his season over but hoping the injury will not require an operation.
"I'm feeling a bit lucky really. If I'd got another bang on the field it could have been a lot worse," Anesi said.

It is still a serious injury - doctors have told him a fracture of the C6 vertebra in his neck, and the subsequent shift of the C6 and C7 vertebrae, will require him to wear a neck brace for up to 12 weeks.

"I don't need surgery at the moment but they're going to do another x-ray on Friday and another in two weeks and see how it goes and whether it's healing properly. "If not we'll be looking at an operation, but at the moment it's looking good."

Anesi was hit on the left side of his head in the tackle on Nonu. "I felt it but I thought it was just a muscle thing so I kept on going.
"It was in my shoulder more because I couldn't even lift my right arm up far and my whole back was stiff as well."

He went home with painkillers and a neck brace, but by the morning it had worsened and team doctor Zig Khouri arranged an x-ray. A CT scan in hospital confirmed the full extent of the damage.
"Even on the field I was just trying to crack my back, thinking the pain could just go away. I didn't even know it was my neck until the scan the next morning."

There will be no training for Anesi, and he will be on new diet to avoid putting on weight.

Because of his limited movement, the New Zealand Rugby Union will arrange home help for him.
"This is the worst injury I've ever had but I've just got to take it on the chin and do what I've got to do to make it right."