Players must be protected from themselves
The game itself has been transformed this year by the new interpretation of law but on the eve of another World Cup year, there are a number of issues and concerns surrounding the game that need to be addressed over the next twelve months.
When somebody as bubbly and full of life as John Fogarty is confined to bed in a darkened room for days at a time, it is time to sit up and take notice. The former Munster, Connacht, Leinster and Ireland A captain did the game a service recently (along with his former colleague Bernard Jackman) by revealing candid details of their multiple concussions and the repercussions that now affect theirdaily lives, accepting the hypocrisy of waiting until they retired to do so.
I wrote extensively on the news pages of this paper some time back on the subject and without going into the detail again, I’ve been further disappointed by the comparative lack of impact the declarations of the two former hookers have had on their fellow professionals.
Since then, England’s Chris Ashton remained on the field against South Africa after taking a heavy knock while tackling Victor Matfield very early in the game. It was only when he missed a tackle on Lwazi Mvovo late in the second half that he was replaced.
Watching Ashton and his club mate Ben Foden being interviewed by Sky for the ‘Rugby Club’ a few weeks after the game was actually quite sad. Foden was joking about the number of occasions during that game that Ashton asked him what was going on. The Northampton winger has admitted he has little memory of the match. Perhaps if he had a word with Fogarty he might not be so chirpy.
In Leinster’s game against Clermont Auvergne in France, Sean O’Brien also took a very heavy knock andstumbled on a few occasions while trying to get back on his feet. Leinster reported afterwards that he took a bang to the ribs and that he was fine. To be fair, he didn’t play like a fellow who was concussed but there is no doubt that he lost his sense of balance and was unsure of himself for a period.
Findings now relating to the effects later in life of repeated concussions in sport are quite disturbing. Evidence from the NFL in America has revealed repeated cases of depression and the early onset of dementia with former footballers. Those findings warn that repeated concussions “can change your life and your family’s life forever”.
At least the IRB seem set to act next year to ensure that players who suffer head injuries are permanently replaced. I once slept in a neck brace on the eve of an international against Argentina. As I was captain and had a room to myself, nobody knew. A few weeks later I had microsurgery to repair a shattered disc. The bottom line is that players need to be protected from themselves as they will always do everything within their control to play or stay on the field. It is just part of a rugby player’s nature.
On the subject, full marks to Irish referee George Clancy who did everything in his power to have Ashton removed from the field at Twickenham. Ditto Mark Lawrence of South Africa, who could be heard over the ref link in the game against Argentina, asking one of his assistant referees to alert the Irish medical team he was not happy with ‘No 13 green’ and they should have a look at him. Brian O’Driscoll was subsequently removed with a facial injury. It is time for all and sundry to wise up before some player suffers serious consequences in the heat of a match.
THE biggest disaster area in the game at present is the scrum — and I’m not referring to Munster’s currentdifficulties.
The pedestrian sequence with which referees deliver the Crouch-Touch-Pause- Engage call on scrum engagement and the lack of consistency in the timing has created havoc with multiple resets and individual scrums taking up to three minutes to complete. It is turning spectators off the game at a time when the ball is in play for longer periods than ever before.
While things have improved somewhat recently, I would advocate shortening the sequence to Crouch-Touch-Engage. One of the reasons this sequence was introduced was to shorten the distance between the front rows on engagement in order to reduce the force of the collision when sixteen massive brutes launch into each other. By retaining the requirement to touch, you still narrow the gap between the opposing front rows but they should be allowed engage at that stage. There is no requirement for a pause and, if anything, it is destabilising the scrum.
