Please see message below from John Inverdale, Chairman, National League Rugby.
As I’m sure you will all be aware by now, David Hyde, a seasoned player for Henley Hawks, collapsed after the game against Old Albanian and died in hospital last night.
The National League world has always been, and is becoming more so, a tight community of like minded clubs and this is a loss that hits all of us. We all have young, newly-married players wearing our colours. It could happen anywhere, anytime.
Henley have been in the vanguard of ensuring that the best possible medical equipment is available in the event of major trauma incidents and immediate attention was on hand when David collapsed. It’s a timely reminder of all of our responsibilities to our players.
National League Rugby sends its sympathies to Henley and all of David’s family, many of whom were present at the match. I’m sure you’ll all join me in saying that if Henley need support and assistance at such a difficult time, they only have to ask.
With best wishes to all our clubs. It was great to have Rugby back this weekend but immensely sad that events in the field were dwarfed by such a tragedy.