White concussed but played

Rugby officials say Australia halfback was wrongly allowed to play on after he was concussed against Ireland this month. White took a blow to the head in the second half at Lansdowne Road on November 19. As he was leaving the field for a head injury assessment, he stumbled twice. Those stumbles were ‘‘Criteria 1’’ displays of possible concussion and should have automatically resulted in White’s permanent removal from the field. But an independent review ordered by the Six Nations says the stumbles were missed. White passed the HIA by the independent match day doctor and returned to play the last 26 minutes. World Rugby noted from the independent report that the matchday doctor and Wallabies doctor were reviewing video of the head knock and didn’t see White’s stumbles coming off the field.