Best happy with concussion procedures

There is a phenomenon in the media when it comes to war reporting. The initial days are guaranteed to capture everyone’s attention. Then, slowly but surely, the fatigue sets in.

There is the risk of something similar with rugby and concussion. For the last few years now, the issue has risen inexorably to the top of the topics on trend, but there is a wariness, too, that it may start to leave some cold the more pervasive it becomes.

It is human nature.

It is, of course, an issue too big and too important to ignore and there was no escaping it again yesterday when Rory Best was presented for media duties on the back of his concussion against Italy and reappearance against France just seven days later.

His was a recovery that prompted Rory O’Carroll, the Dublin footballer who suffered a concussion of his own in the 2013 All-Ireland final and who is now an ambassador for Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, to pen a letter querying the fact to one newspaper.

The IRFU operates different concussion protocols for its professional players and the amateur game – the former can play after seven days, the latter only after 14 — but the point made by O’Carroll is that all brains are fundamentally the same.

“For me, I was very happy with the procedures that were followed,” said Best. “I was also very happy that I don’t think I would have taken any risks. I don’t think it is fair on the family and the team and myself. I was very happy that I had no symptoms the whole way through the week.

“I was happy that the tests went well, all the return to play protocols, all the running, wearing the heart rate monitors. The GPS gives you a real insight as to exactly what you’ve done to test the head. I was happy and I know our medics wouldn’t have taken any risks.”

Best’s commitment is obvious.

The Ulster hooker famously threw himself into a ruck against New Zealand in November two years ago despite having just fractured his arm and he delved into a handful of breakdowns against Italy after being concussed earlier this month. Which is why players need the most protection from themselves.

“You never want to let your team down,” Best agreed. “That’s why I wasn’t allowed back on the pitch (against Italy) because, as a player, you would come back on regardless as long as you feel you can keep going. That’s why the tests are there during the game.

“Jim McShane administered it at the time and he just said: ‘look, we’re taking this out of your hands. You’re not coming back on.’ Joe had made the decision anyway that they wouldn’t take any chances and … as a player you have to trust them.”

It is a situation that will rear its head many more times and the hits will just keep on coming for Best and Ireland this Sunday when England provide yet another bruising examination of the home team’s Six Nations credentials.

In Dylan Hartley, Best will be packing down opposite a man whose head issues have been more figurative than literal and whose dismissal for giving lip to referee Wayne Barnes in a Premiership final opened the door to a Lions tour place in 2013 for the Ulsterman.

If ever there was a player tailor-made for a spot of strategic sledging then it is the combustible hooker, even if Best would be the last man you might expect to signal an intent to prod and probe for an opening.

“Sometimes it has strayed the wrong side for him, but if you look at him he’s a physical player who hits things hard and off the pitch when you chat to him he’s a great lad. “You look at his lineout throwing, whenever he’s physical around the pitch he’s still able to be cool, calm and collected and throw the ball in and he’s very accurate there. So if your gameplan is to go out and rattle him, you’re worrying too much about external factors.”