Ivory Coast At The Rugby World Cup
The Ivory Coast's only Rugby World Cup appearance was in 1995 when they were placed in Pool D with France, Scotland and Tonga.
Their appearance in the 1995 Rugby World Cup was fairly notorious and controversial. In the opening game against Scotland, the Ivory Coast lost by 89 points to nil, a result which led many to question the inclusion of "minor" teams in the tournament. Worse still, three minutes into the third match, against Tonga, their winger Max Brito was crushed beneath several other players. Despite intensive care, Brito was left paralyzed below the neck. He had caught a high ball that had been kicked up the field, and set off on a counter-attack. He was tackled by Inoke Afeaki, the Tonga flanker, before a ruck formed over him. The ruck collapsed and several players fell on top of Brito, leaving him prone and motionless on the ground. Brito was taken to the intensive care unit of the Unitas Hospital in Pretoria with broken vertebrae. Operations were carried out to stabilize the fourth and fifth vertebrae, but Brito was left paralyzed below the neck.
In a 2007 interview, Brito was portrayed as living an unhappy life. He was quoted as saying that
| “ | ...It is now 12 years since I have been in this state. I have come to the end of my tether... If one day I fall seriously ill, and if I have the strength and courage to take my own life, then I will do it...This bloody handicap - it's my curse. It kills me and I will never accept it. I can't live with it and it's going to be with me for the rest of my life." | ” |
Brito's injury raised concerns about the presence of such teams in a rugby union environment on the brink of professionalisation.
Read more about Ivory Coast At The Rugby World Cup: By Position, Overall Record, Team Records, Individual Records, Hosting
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