CONCUSSION: THE NUMBER THAT PUTS ALL BLACKS AT RISK
Professional rugby players who play more than 25 matches in a season are more likely to suffer a concussion than not, according to a newly released study.
The same report, compiled in Wales after four years of data was gathered from the Welsh national team and their four professional clubs — Cardiff Blues, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets — also found the number of players suffering concussion is increasing and the rise can’t be attributed solely to better detection and reporting. The authors have recommended “limiting the number of matches players are involved in during a season to 25”.
The key findings of the Welsh research are borne out to some degree by the medical happenings of New Zealand’s top players last year. There were 17 men who played for the All Blacks in 2017 who were concussed in the past year.
Beauden Barrett, for example, played 15 times for the Hurricanes in 2017 (once as a substitute) and 10 times for the All Blacks. He missed the third Bledisloe Cup test of the year through a concussion incurred against the Springboks in what was his 21st game of the season.
Other All Blacks who were concussed in the past year included Ryan Crotty, who played 24 games, Wyatt Crockett, who played 31 games — although many were from the bench — and Sam Cane, who played 26 games split evenly between the Chiefs and All Blacks.
Lock Sam Whitelock, who captained the Crusaders, also played 26, including nine for the All Blacks, and suffered a concussion, while Aaron Smith played 25 matches and hooker Codie Taylor played 27, and neither suffered a concussion.
A recommendation to restrict players to a maximum of 25 games per year wouldn’t necessarily cause a major problem in New Zealand as players tend to be carefully managed according to coordinated and agreed plans between Super Rugby and national coaches.
However, the findings of this new report will resonate as they confirm what many medics, coaches and players suspect anecdotally — that the head is increasingly in danger.
In the past few years, three professional players — including two All Blacks — have been forced to prematurely retire due to prevailing concussion symptoms, while players such as Kieran Read, Dane Coles, Ben Smith and Charlie Ngatai have all fought long and challenging battles to get back on the field after serious head knocks.
These high profile concussion cases have led to the All Blacks adopting an ultra-cautious and careful return-to-play strategy with their players.
Several times in recent years, players who suffered a concussion, have been deemed unavailable despite having had medical clearance and approval to play.
The All Blacks’ policy is to give players an extra week to recover if possible and the coaching and medical teams will no doubt be interested to read this latest research, led by James Rafferty of Cardiff Metropolitan University and published in the British Journal of Sports
Medicine, which included the sobering conclusion return-to-play protocols “warrant investigation” after it was discovered players were 38 per cent more likely to be injured again shortly after suffering a concussive injury than those who suffered non-concussive injuries.
Those secondary injuries apply to all areas of the body, not just the head.
The study took place over four years, from the 2012-13 season to the 2015-16 season, using the injury surveillance database of the Welsh Rugby Union, which monitors the national men’s side and its four professional clubs.
The data showed 2441 injuries to 367 players, from a total pool of 429. Some 1602 of the injuries occurred during matches, 514 during training and 325 during other activities.
Concussion was the most common injury (10 per cent) and although the incidence increased over the four seasons, the severity of concussions did not.
The data saw concussion incidence increase from 7.9 injuries over 1000 player-match-hours, to 21.5, a significant rise.
Although it has been suggested the emergence of Head Injury Assessment protocol has led to a rise in the numbers because previously unreported concussions were now being picked up, this should have seen a spike only for the 2014-15 season, the first played under the protocols.
“However, the continued rise in incidence in the 2015-16 season implies there are additional factors other than stakeholder awareness that contribute to the increased concussion incidence,” the report noted.