Official complaint made to World Rugby over 'significant' head injuries - Ruck

Official complaint made to World Rugby over ‘significant’ head injuries

The International Rugby Players union has contacted World Rugby and the Six Nations in the wake of several high-profile incidents regarding head injuries during the tournament.

Although it doesn’t highlight any particular issue, head knocks to Tomas Francis, Kyle Sinckler and Jack Nowell and how they were handled all came under intense scrutiny.

Their statement read: “International Rugby Players has contacted World Rugby and Six Nations Ltd regarding several head injury issues in the recent men’s Six Nations competition.

“The global players’ body has been involved with World Rugby over the last decade in formulating protocols, rules and regulations in relation to the head injury assessment (HIA), graduated return to play and general concussion management.”

Omar Hassanein, the International Rugby Players CEO, added: “We cannot place enough emphasis on the importance of player safety, particularly where head injuries are concerned.

“This involves, not only the continued evolution of protocols based on science but also ensuring that everyone plays their part in the proper implementation of those protocols.

“We believe in the need for openness and transparency and the need to project the right public message on head injuries, as well as the requirement for incidents of this nature to be investigated in a comprehensive and timely fashion.”

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