Ex-Wallabies prop Ben Darwin recalls how an All Blacks rival ‘saved his life’ after devastating neck injury from scrum

Former Wallabies sponsor Ben Darwin has revealed the moment an All Blacks rival ‘saved his life’ during the 2003 World Cup semi-final.

It may be almost twenty years ago, Darwin will never forget the gesture of the imposing Kees Meeuws, who just entered the battle as a replacement.

Just as he had done thousands of times since he started rugby as a youngster, Darwin kept his head in a scrum.

Seconds later, he knew something was seriously wrong when he could no longer feel his arms and legs.

‘I shouted ‘neck, neck, neck’, and he (Meeuws) retreated’, said Darwin Broad sports world.

It was during the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup and Darwin feared he would become paralyzed after badly hurting his neck during a scrum (pictured)

After the neck injury, Darwin retired from rugby and All Blacks sponsor Kees Meeuws will always be grateful

“It probably saved me from paralysis, it was such a selfless act… it might have saved my life.”

Darwin retired two months after the World Cup with 28 caps to his name, well aware that he was lucky.

He jokes that since then he has been asked ‘probably 50,000 times’ how his neck is doing, but knows that things could have been drastically different had Meeuws not listened to his desperate plea on the pitch.

“I will always be grateful to Kees, there is certainly mutual respect between us,” said Darwin.

After his rugby career ended, Darwin began coaching, including spells with the Western Force and in Japan.

In recent years, Darwin shifted his focus to the business world.

He is now a director of Gain Line Analytics, a company that provides advanced intelligence and data to professional rugby teams.