In other words, if you suffer injury or loss, you have no claim for damages – and, if your insurance policy excludes the risk, that’s a big problem.  If on the other hand you caused the injury, you have a defence to the injured person’s claim, provided you can show that he/she:

1. Knew the risk (it must be foreseeable), and
 
2. Appreciated the ambit of the risk, and

3. Consented to the risk (e.g. by voluntarily partaking in the game or activity).

However this “consent” defence has its limits.  Whilst it will cover a mere “error of judgment” or “momentary lapse in skill”, it will not apply to a deliberate action, or to a “reckless disregard for safety” (evidenced perhaps by play in total violation of the rules of the sport).

Thus in a recent High Court matter, where a motorcyclist rode around a circular track the wrong way and collided with another participant in a race, he was held liable on the grounds that he “showed a reckless disregard” for the other rider’s safety.  His actions were held to have been “ grossly unreasonably both insofar as the rules of motor cycling are concerned and also from an appreciation of the risks inherent in a dangerous sport.”