French unhappy as Biggar given concussion all-clear
France and Wales traded pointed remarks over the fitness of Northampton Saints fly-half Dan Biggar, who has been cleared to play in tomorrow’s quarter-final despite having two incidents involving blows to the head, which would have ruled him out of contention in Top 14 domestic competition in France.
“Everyone takes their responsibilities,” said head coach Jacques Brunel when naming his France side for the match. “If it had been the French Top 14, sustaining two concussions automatically means three weeks out with the protocol that is applied there, so he wouldn’t have been able to play.”
Biggar, though, takes his place in a full-strength Wales line-up with their management adamant that all protocols had been observed, including an examination by an independent doctor as per World Rugby regulations. The 30-year-old failed a head injury assessment after taking a blow in Wales’s win over Australia on Sept 29, but was passed fit to play against Fiji 10 days later. However, the No10 was involved in an aerial collision with team-mate Liam Williams during the game in Oita and had to leave the field again.
The Welsh union released details of what procedures had been followed. “Dan has remained symptom-free since the game and has completed the graduated return to play with no issues,” the statement read. “Management [of him] has included MRI scanning and two consultations with a globally renowned independent concussion consultant from Australia.
“We are pleased to say that, given that all return-to-play protocols have been met, imaging being normal and ratification from the independent concussion consultant, Dan has been deemed fit to play.”
Warren Gatland is sensitive to the issue, having come in for a certain amount of criticism for the way repeated concussions involving George North had been dealt with a few years ago.
“We feel that we’ve gone through due diligence in making sure we’ve covered all the bases in terms of Dan,” the Wales head coach said. “He felt better after the game. So we went through and made sure in terms of consulting the right people and making sure they were aware of everything, getting him scanned, [the] independent consultant – that was important.
“He’s desperate as a player to play, but we’ve been conscious of things in the past. George North has had a few knocks and so have other players. If he [Biggar] gets a knock in the next few games or the next couple of months, obviously there would probably be a different course of action. But he’s very confident that he’s 100 per cent.”