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Rugby: Bill English has to stop the game’s concussion carnage
OPINION: ‘‘Boomfah’’#*!
Punch the air. Twist your head. And there goes another mediumsized wardrobe hurtling towards the white line in the grass. Splattered on the turf behind him are the remaining splinters of a man. Collateral damage.
Run on, doc, look him in the eye, and if he can stand on one leg without falling over, clear him to go back out for more. ‘‘We can’t go on like this.’’
And out of the wilderness comes a voice, the voice of Dr Willie Stewart, a neuropathologist at a Glasgow hospital. He has had enough. He was sickened by the spectacle of the match at Twickenham between England and Scotland in which five players were removed from the field of play due to concussion or suspected concussion.
Stewart is now considering resigning his position with World Rugby, as other medical persons have done before him. He says: ‘‘The level of brain injury in rugby is phenomenal to the point where I now question whether I can now remain within rugby’s independent advisory committee. I can’t see we’re making a difference.’’
A terrifying level of uncertainty faces all our top-level players. An actuarial report into American Football that sought to guide the NFL on future liability was recently completed. From the age of 50 to 60 it estimated that former players were 14 to 23 times more likely to suffer cognitive impairment, because football had damaged their brains.
Rugby’s level of brain damage is unlikely to be so high, but it will still be at a level where we have to question whether the risk has now spiralled out of control. This is our national game and it is time that Bill English and his parliament financed a far higher level of research.
We could start by admitting that we have a massive problem. We could start by admitting that Dr Stewart is right when he asks if we want to watch rugby contested by ‘‘the last man standing who survived the conflict on the park.’’
I know I will be accused by some in the rugby community of hyperbole so I went in detail through two recent matches, one in the northern hemisphere, one in New Zealand.
The game between England and Scotland was a multi-vehicle accident. In the second minute Elliot Daly was tip tackled. He went off for an HIA and returned to the field of play. Ten minutes later he took himself off the pitch because of blurred vision. So much for the HIA. After seven minutes Maro Itoje high-tackled Stuart Hogg. No card, no warning. Ten minutes later Hogg takes a knee and tells the medics he cannot go on. After 10 minutes Ryan Wilson collects Itoje’s shoulder on the chin. Nearly two minutes of continuous play follows at the end of which Wilson takes a knee. He is left on the pitch.
After 41 minutes Tommy Seymour is concussed in a tackle. The medics have a pow-wow on the sideline and let him play on. There minutes later he is hit in the chest by a late tackle and lies on the ground, sparko.
After 61 minutes Wilson bangs heads with Jamie George. It’s Wilson’s second concussion. He finally goes off. George passes an HIA. Six minutes remaining, Anthony Watson’s head is smashed by a team-mate’s shoulder. His day is done. Carnage.
The match between the Highlanders and the Hurricanes is only slightly less damaging. Malakai Fekitoa, Matt Proctor and Fletcher Smith, on debut, all depart with concussions. It is far from the first time for Fekitoa and Proctor who lack tackle technique.
Dane Coles also seemed to be concussed when he spiralled through the air at the end of the first half and landed on his head. Coles plays on and takes a knee three times after contact in the second half. He eventually wanders off after around 70 minutes, but apparently not because his head feels like a watermelon.
The refs are not sending off players who behave dangerously. In the opening weekend game between the Stormers and the Bulls, there should have been at least three red cards for dangerous tackles. Instead, nada. Scarcely even a penalty in sight.
As was repeated in the match against Ireland, Itoje’s tackle technique is frequently dangerous. A number of current All Blacks are also serial head-hunters. The Lions series could turn into a lottery of red cards if referees Jaco Peyper, Jerome Garces and Romain Poite do their jobs. Many of the young Super Rugby officials are currently negligent.
Stewart says the people running rugby are conflicted. They want to grow the game. They know that the boomfahs revel in the big hits. But each year the crisis grows. They are privately furious when the governing bodies refuse to take action against negligent medical teams, but say nothing publicly.
World Rugby has run out of ideas. So over to you Mr English. It is time the New Zealand government took action.