Swindon lock Dave Cox felt guilty after the neck injury he sustained halted his side’s comeback against Oxford Harlequins on Saturday.

Cox went down with what appeared to be a serious knock after 60 minutes. Swindon’s physios decided as it was a neck injury that a paramedic needed to be called.

Though the paramedic arrived very quickly his assesment that an ambulance was needed delayed the game enough that the game was ended early, with Oxford leading 36-12.

Thankfully, Cox’s injury was not too serious. By the time the ambulance had arrived Cox thought he would have been able to carry on.

He said: “The most disappointing thing was the we’d just scored a try. I feel a bit guilty as we were coming back into it.

“Because the paramedic had noted I had some pain in my neck they had to take me to hospital as a precautionary measure.

“When I got to the hospital they were excellent, I said I was fine, the doctor gave me a quick check over and discharged me.”

With the length of the delay increasing as the teams waited for the ambulance to arrive Swindon captain Adam Westall offered Oxford the choice between taking the points or replaying the game in April.

Oxford were reluctant to take the win given the circumstances but with the fixture backlog caused by the weather didn’t feel that another game at the end of the season was possible.

The Swindon players were not too upset that Cox’s injury had cost them a defeat and were happy to see him after he returned from hospital.

“I walked back down to the club to get my car and was met to a by load of banter, it was all good natured, they’re a good bunch.”

Though the lock revealed that it was Westall who would lose out the most from his injury.

“Adam Westtall was a more annoyed than anybody. They had to cut my shirt off me, he’s the one that gets us our kit and he’s notoriously tight.”

Cox was grateful to the medics that attended to him and the club’s physios.

“I’ve played in that situation before. A few years ago one of our players Ross Saville played through a game with a fractured neck. The physios did the right thing.”