‘Eddie had talks over Italian job’
RYAN MCHUGH has revealed how he suffered a bleed on the brain as repeated concussions mounted up for him this year.
The Donegal star had to take the rest of the year off following medical advice after suffering the latest blow in a challenge game for his club Kilcar against St Vincent’s in September.
It ruled him out of the club’s run in and they were eliminated in the county quarter-finals by Naomh Conaill, though he’s back in the gym and will resume training with Donegal after he returns from the PWC All-star tour in Philadelphia.
“I had one at the start of the League this year and I took about eight weeks off, I had a slight bleed in my brain,” explained Mchugh.
“Three knocks in games. Dublin, Kildare and Tyrone were the three games. Our doctor, Kevin Moran is one of the top doctors in Ireland and he was looking after me.
“So I took about six to eight weeks off and I was grand then.
“Unfortunately I went back to the club and we had a challenge match against St Vincent’s of Dublin. I picked up another knock and I don’t really remember a lot about that. I got the CT scan and was advised again by the doctor to take a longer rest.
“We were county champions last year and we had a chance to defend our title. So it was a break you didn’t want to take but you have to think of later on in life.”
Having a discussion with medical professionals about a bleed on his brain was, naturally, a more worrying one than those relating to the more typical injuries that tend to befall footballers.
“Now, it was a slight bleed, they weren’t 100 per cent sure,” he said. “But I suppose it happened, you just have to get on with it.
“Rest, there’s nothing you can really do with it. It’s not like when you break a leg, you come back and try to build it up in the gym and different sort of stuff.
“It’s just rest really is all you can do, stay away from computers and that sort of stuff.”
Awareness around concussion has improved considerably in recent years but, Mchugh admits, there’s still quite a lot of ground that needs to be covered.
“I know the first time I had it, I actually didn’t get the symptoms and stuff until about two weeks later. So it was strange, it actually happened at training one night, I just felt ill and dizzy and stuff.
“I went to Kevin and Kevin pulled me out straight away. If Kevin wasn’t there, I could’ve trained on.”
Mchugh says he may now have to tailor his game. He added: “Yeah, myself and Dad were actually on about that. I was reading up on Johnny Sexton.
“He had to change the style of the way he tackles. He must have been going in with his head or something. So it is something I can look at in the future.” DONEGAL’S Ryan Mchugh has backed calls for one of Dublin’s Super 8 games to be taken out of Croke Park.
This year the All-ireland champions played two of their three games at GAA HQ, their de facto home ground, in the revamped quarter-final stage of the Championship, while every other county only enjoyed such an advantage once.
Donegal are expected to bring a motion to February’s GAA Congress proposing that the Croke Park round of games in the series be fixed for strictly neutral venues.
Mchugh said: “I think, yeah, it’s maybe something they can look at anyway. Every other team is doing it, so why can’t Dublin?
“Listen, as a player, don’t get me wrong, you want to be playing in Croke Park every opportunity you can. But to topple the Dubs, I suppose maybe you might have a better chance if you played them in Clones or somewhere like that.
“I can’t remember how many was at the game in Croke Park, but a packed house in Clones would be a special occasion. They’re the kingpins.” EDDIE JONES held talks with Italy about becoming their coach after next year’s World Cup, it was claimed last night
Italian Rugby Federation president Alfredo Gavazzi says three meetings were held with the England coach over succeeding Conor O’shea, when his contract expires in 2020 – but the talks broke down. “Yes, it’s true. He put himself forward through some friends,” Gavazzi told Il Mattino di Padova newspaper.
“There has been talk of money. It is also true he said we can be among the top eight in the world. But I want to be clear – Eddie Jones will not be the coach after 2020. He proposed a vision and a philosophy different from ours.”
An RFU spokesman last night described the story as “speculation”.
England’s upturn in the autumn has made Jones’s position bulletproof through to the World Cup. The Australian is contracted to 2021, but there will be a review of his position if England fail to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Rugby World Cup winner Naka Drotske was shot three times after charging at armed robbers to force them out of his brother’s house in South Africa.
Drotske, whom played for London Irish as well as Cheetahs and Bulls in South Africa was shot in the chest, arm and abdomen but was in a stable condition in hospital after the attempted robbery outside Pretoria.
I was reading up on Johnny Sexton. He had to change the way he tackles. It is something I can look at in the future