Kyran Bracken: Lack of action on Return to Play “hard to stomach”
This article is sourced from the Rugby Paper
Former England scrum-half Kyran Bracken has told the Rugby Paper that he believes there is a “scandalous lack of leadership” in dealing with the current Graduated Return to Play (GRTP) protocol.
Progressive Rugby, of which Bracken is a key member, has asked that any player who fails a head injury assessment (HIA) is stood down for a minimum of 12 days.
Under the current GRTP an elite player can return to the field the following weekend providing they pass each six stages of the protocol and are cleared by a World Rugby-approved independent concussion consultant.
However, many medics now agree that recovery takes nearer two weeks, with some claiming it can take four weeks for a player’s brain to recover sufficiently.
The debate has intensified after Professor Willie Stewart, who advises World Rugby on brain health, told a podcast that evidence required to reduce the RTP protocol from three weeks in 2011 was “never really there” and openly acknowledged it’s agreed that sufficient recovery is “nearer two weeks.”
Bracken said: “I feel very let down by World Rugby and its approach to concussion.
“There is a malaise and a scandalous lack of leadership when it comes to taking the necessary preventative action with regards to the shortening of Return to Play protocols.
“When you look at what players like Steve Thompson and Alix Popham are suffering, it is hard to stomach the lack of action.
“Professor Willie Stewart, a consultant neuropathologist who advises World Rugby on brain health, has highlighted that the three-week stand down after a concussion – which was introduced in 1977 – was based on experienced medical advice.
“Stewart commented that evidence to support the reduction of the three week concussion period, which was promoted by the 2011 Graduated Return to Play protocol – whereby a player might be able to return to action in just six days – was “never really there”.
“How can Rugby Union players return to play within a week of a concussion/ knock-out despite any conclusive scientific evidence that it is safe, whereas in boxing after a knock-out there is a mandatory one-month standdown period?
“It should not take someone in rugby to die of a concussion injury before action is taken. There is a disaster coming round the corner if this is not remedied – but, unfortunately, it may take a legal case to force World Rugby to make the game safer by implementing a greater stand down period.”