Members of the Bay of Plenty wheelchair rugby team had to find rides home after a crash in New Plymouth took out their van.

Five members of the Bay of Plenty Steamrollers, of Tauranga, were heading to the TSB Stadium on Saturday afternoon, for their match in the National Wheelchair Rugby Finals, when their van collided with a car at the intersection of Leach and Gover streets.

'There were three of us in the back and one in the front – two able-bodied support workers and two of us wheelies,” says player Amanda Lowry.

Amanda Lowry is helped from the van after Saturday's crash in New Plymouth. Photo: Supplied/Stuff.

"I came out with a big cut on my head.”

Despite the crash, Lowry said the players had wanted to keep their fixture. 'But they'd heard there had been an accident so they'd called it as a default.”

Lowry became disabled nine years ago in a surfing accident, six days after the birth of her youngest daughter.

Emergency services were called to a collision at the intersection of Leach and Gover streets in New Plymouth. Photo: Lisa Burd/Stuff.

She is tetraplegic, and has no feeling from the shoulders down.

One ambulance, one first responder, two fire trucks and three police cars attended Saturday's 3pm crash, and Lowry, said they had been 'amazing”.

'The whole front got ripped off. We don't know about the chassis. The whole left side is a big caved in.

'I got lifted down in my chair.

'Everyone checked us over. They were a bit worried about head injuries.”

Driver Neil Cudby, a businessman and father of two, said he was waiting to learn if his modified van had been written-off.

One ambulance, one first responder, two fire trucks and three police cars attended the incident. Photo: Lisa Burd/Stuff.

He has been in a wheelchair since a rugby accident aged 17 and is turning 50 next week.

He said the van is his lifeline.

'It's the only way I can get around, really. I don't have the function to transfer in and out of a car.”

Cudby and his passengers had arranged rides home with other competition participants.

He said wheelchair rugby was 'like one big family”.

The Bay of Plenty Steamrollers have been doing a shout out on Givealittle ahead of the tournament for a little bit of support to help them cover the costs to attend tournaments, wheelchair maintenance and registration fees so that they can proudly represent the Bay of Plenty.

Despite the accident, Cherie Harris, president of New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby, said it had been a successful weekend and praised the host city and stadium.

Teams from four regions took part – Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington/Waikato, and Bay of Plenty, with an Australia Development side also participating.

Auckland won the final 56-48 over Canterbury.

Jordan Tito, from Bay of Plenty, and MikeTodd, of Canterbury, playing in the National Wheelchair Rugby Finals in New Plymouth on Sunday. Photo: Cherie Harris/Stuff.

'Taranaki does not have a wheelchair rugby team,” Harris said. 'We are excited to showcase the sport. It's been a bit of a mission for us to actually get here, but the people on the ground have been phenomenal.”

She said the game, which is played with a volleyball, was known as 'violent chess”.

'It's tactical, it's strategic.

'It's the only contact sport for high-level impairment, globally, and we would love to establish the competition here in Taranaki, even if it's only a few players.”

'I'd love to look back in three years' time, two years' time, and say this was the starting point of the Taranaki wheelchair rugby team that are now at nationals taking on Auckland, Canterbury, Manawatu. That would be amazing.”

Elijah Hill and Andrew Owen/Stuff

The members of the Bay of Plenty Steamrollers wheelchair rugby team are passionate about the sport which fosters camaraderie, physical fitness and leadership, not to mention the social benefits.

The Steamrollers practise twice a week and represent the Bay of Plenty in national competitions hosted around the country. However, since Covid many of the funding streams that they use to help them to attend tournaments have dried up. Five of their players require support workers to assist them in their everyday lives, increasing the costs of attending. To help support their 'Support a Wheelie Good Cause' Givealittle page please click here