'There is always going to be a bad time to bring something in'
Chief World Rugby medic Eanna Falvey has reported he has received little negative feedback ahead of the July 1 changes to rugby’s concussion protocol. The latest alterations will result in the vast majority of players not returning to play within twelve days after a confirmed concussion.
The introduction of these fresh regulations aimed at making it harder for a player that suffers a concussion from playing the following week for his team will come into force ahead of the July tours in the southern hemisphere.
It could potentially disadvantage teams such as England (in Australia) and Ireland (in New Zealand) given the travel times involved in calling up a replacement player from home due to the strengthened return to play process.
However, World Rugby medical officer Falvey believes that the touring teams will simply roll with the punches if and when something happens and that his briefings with team doctors on the changes have been mostly positive.
Asked by RugbyPass about the reaction to the timing of the changes which are being introduced with Test teams on the move rather than a time when domestic club competitions are on, Falvey reported: “Nothing negative and look, there is always going to be a bad time to bring something in, there is always some competition, there is always the next thing.
“There is a lot going on down south but you have to pick a time and go for it. Teams appreciate that, we haven’t had a lot of negative feedback, but we are there to support teams in helping them out and getting the job done,” said Falvey, the medic who used to work for Ireland and Munster as their team doctor before taking over from Martin Raftery at World Rugby.
In advance of the new regulations coming on stream, Falvey has spoken to the chief medical officers at the various unions over the last three or four weeks, so the planning and educational process ahead of the July 1 implementation has been collaboratively done.
“If you are heading off with a team on a tour like that you are preparing for injuries anyway, you are getting ready whether or not,” continued Falvey, putting himself in the shoes of a team doctor and imagining how they will handle next month’s tightened return to play process.
“Nowadays if you look at the average return to play time after a concussion, it is about 16 days anyway so if you have someone having a concussion on tour they are very unlikely to play again, so I don’t know if this makes a significant material difference.
“If you are looking at the number of concussions you may have one or two players have a concussion over the course of the tour and they may or may not play again. That is a small number in terms of how it will affect the squad. Obviously, there are differences where if you are carrying two tens and one of the tens goes down, that is a big issue.
“But I think team doctors are aligned, we have briefed them in advance and one of the things you get good at being a doctor is rolling with the punches. You roll with the changes as they occur and you make do and you get on with things. With this situation, I haven’t had anyone get onto me directly about this. I’m sure there are people who have had to make changes to manage it but that is not a new thing.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments