Game’s failure to satisfactorily manage brain injuries is a headache World Rugby can’t appear to cure
This article is written by Progressive Rugby
What a miserable few weeks for those of us wanting to see rugby take a grip on the thorny issue of brain injuries.
A wonderful women’s RWC2021 final was soured by head clashes. The red card challenge reportedly left Portia Woodman posturing on the side of the pitch (a sure sign of brain injury) and she remembers nothing more of the match. Reports suggested Woodman failed a HIA, although goodness only knows why she would have been given one as she clearly had category 1 symptoms so under protocol must be immediately and permanently removed.
Later in the same game, England star Abby Dow suffered the same fate when she clashed heads in a staggering similar scenario but was inexplicably left on the field before eventually being removed and then passing a HIA we say she should never have undergone. World Rugby are yet to announce their match review findings.
Sadly, the Autumn internationals this weekend offered no respite.
At Murrayfield, supporters again clapped on the 8th minute of the match to pay respects to Siobhan Cattigan, a Scottish international who died aged 26. Her parents are currently involved in a legal case with the SRU claiming her death was contributed to by a lack of care around head injuries.
So, it was distressing to see Argentinian full back stay on the field after striking his head on the ground and players screaming for the referee to stop the match as he had lost consciousness. The medic attending Juan Cruz Mallia was with him briefly before he carried on leading commentator Jamie Lyall to say he was “staggered” the player hadn’t been taken off.
The game itself had not covered itself in glory with five yellow cards and a red being brandished. The red for Marcos Kremer certainly falling into the ‘daft beyond belief’ category after he ran from distance and swung an arm into James Ritchie’s head at the breakdown after just 23 minutes.
But the pièce de resistance, the crowning tale of woe, saved itself for the Aviva Stadium where Ireland were taking on Australia. Referee Ben O’Keefe was to be applauded in the 24th minute when he ordered Australia hooker Dave Porecki off for a HIA despite his protestation and we assume he duly failed as he never returned.
But on 54 minutes, viewers were worried for Australian scrum-half Nic White who took two quick fire blows to the head, one in an attempted tackle and then carrying the ball into contact. In our view, White clearly displayed Category 1 symptoms and therefore must leave the field permanently. But no, he underwent a HIA and returned, later telling reporters he had just been a “little ginger.”
Thankfully we weren’t the only ones to notice with social media expressing their disbelief the diminutive Ozzie had returned, and commentator Alan Quinlan also voicing his concern.
By Sunday afternoon, the Wallabies confirmed that the incident had been re-assessed and elevated to criteria 1 - meaning White should have been immediately and permanently removed. He is now stood down for a mandatory 12 days.
It evokes worrying memories of memories of Tomas Francis at Twickenham and Irish prop Jeremy Loughman in New Zealand.
All three claim it was a breakdown in communications and failure to view relevant footage being the issue.
It would seem that no one’s attending the lessons that so desperately need to be learnt.
“In our view, White clearly displayed Category 1 symptoms and therefore must leave the field permanently.”