England U20s doctor found guilty of Six Nations misconduct charges
The England U20s doctor who was the subject of a concussion controversy during the Under-20s Six Nations has been suspended.
Dr Nigel Rayner’s behaviour and actions on the night were described as both ‘grave’ and ‘unacceptable’ in the report.
Dr Rayner was England’s team doctor during the game in which an England player received a head knock. Wing Deago Bailey fell to the ground having competed with an opponent for a high ball during the 77th minute of the match.
The Independent Match Day Doctor (MDD) assessed that Bailey needed to leave the field to undertake a Head Injury Assessment (HIA), which was reported to the referee and to Rayner.
Rayner challenged the need for the player to leave the field to undertake the HIA and his interactions with referee were heavily criticized at the time and led to a Six Nations review of the incident.
Dr Rayner was charged with; A: Allowing a player to return to the field of play, when an HIA had been called; B: interfering with the HIA process and challenging those in a decision-making position; and C: disrespectful conduct towards officials.
A statement reads: ‘The Committee noted that in respect of Charge A and B, Dr Rayner’s actions were grave and found that the HIA protocol is mandatory and must be complied with by all concerned. The independent Judicial Committee was unanimously of the view that an entry point of eight weeks would be appropriate regarding Charges A and B.
“Regarding Charge C, Dr Rayner’s actions towards the MDD were found to be unacceptable and not in the spirit of the game, and the Judicial Committee decided upon a two-week suspension, those two weeks to run concurrently with the eight-week suspension for Charges A and B.
“The independent Judicial Committee applied full mitigation (50%) based on Dr Rayner’s previous impeccable record and acknowledgement of culpability, leaving a total suspension of four weeks.
“It was accepted by the independent Judicial Committee that Dr Rayner had been stood down for three weeks in which he would otherwise have been Team Doctor for the England U20s, participating in the Six Nations U20’s Championship, and therefore determining that he had already served three of the four-week suspension.
“The suspension from any involvement in the game of Rugby Union, will end at 00:01 hours on Friday 29 April 2022.
“Dr Rayner was advised of his right to appeal the decision.”
The report also found that while shortcomings in the HIA process on the night, ultimately the correct actions were taken.
“The HIA Review Panel concluded there were no “Category 1” indicators that would have led to the immediate permanent removal of the player from the field. However, ‘Category-2” events; “mechanism of injury and post-event actions” were such that the Match Day Doctor (MDD) was correct to call for an HIA-1 assessment.
“It was also noted that it is the MDD who has the final say in calling for an assessment and not a team doctor. The correct result was achieved; the Player’s need to undergo HIA-1 assessment, but this was against a backdrop in which the applicable protocols and regulations were implemented in a manner a long way short of what they were designed to achieve.”
“The HIA Review Panel examined the role of the Referee in this incident and determined that she (they) dealt appropriately with the incident itself, stopping play promptly and not restarting until everything had been resolved.”
The panel suggested – among other things – that Pre-Match Medical Meetings are “vitally important to the efficient and effective performance of all match day medical personnel”.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments