Lautoka heat forces changes

Expect more drinks breaks and ice towels when Super Rugby fixtures are played in the sweltering Lautoka heat.

Super Rugby Pacific officials have created extra scope for heat-related interventions, after the Crusaders-Drua match last month prompted a health and safety review.

Multiple Crusaders players were on the brink of being admitted to hospital with heat stroke on March 9, when the mercury touched the late 30s during the afternoon fixture.

It’s understood Crusaders officials raised concerns with authorities after the match at Churchill Park, which isn’t equipped to stage evening games in more comfortable conditions.

“You go to Fiji on holiday. 1.30pm in the afternoon, normally you are seeking shade and probably having a nap. But we will be kicking a rugby ball off,” Crusaders coach Rob Penney said ahead of their 20-10 defeat.

Following the match, the medical advisory group’s review deemed the match was played within World Rugby’s player safety guidelines, but pointed out that the fixture demonstrated the complexity of heat stress.

World Rugby guidelines regarding heat state that players’ ability to cope with heat varies, and that in 80 minutes of rugby in hot, humid conditions a player is required to dissipate the heat produced in the body by evaporating between 2 and 3½ litres of sweat to prevent a dangerous increase in core temperature.

Close monitoring of players in hot environments is recommended, and any player demonstrating symptoms of heat stress should immediately be removed from training or playing, the guidelines state.

“As a result of the match in Lautoka on Saturday 9 March, Super Rugby Pacific has created more scope for heat-related interventions to be applied to ensure that in any situation in which the medical experts believe mitigations should be used to minimise the risk of heat illness, they can be,” the medical advisory group said in a statement to Stuff.