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World Rugby make startling claim regarding on-field concussion surveillance

By Online Editors
Clermont's Jamie Cudmore (right) leaves the field early in the first half due to concussion during the 2015 European Champions Cup final against Toulon at Twickenham (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

World Rugby have claimed that less than six per cent of concussed players are now incorrectly left on the field of play compared to 56 per cent in 2012. 

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The sharp reduction they are claiming to have happened in the past seven years was part of the information circulated in Paris on the third and final day of a player welfare symposium. 

With the World Cup now just six months away, the governing body has insisted it is committed to making a further reduction in the number of concussed players avoiding detection on the field of play. 

Four new components – designed to enhance uniformed data collection and advance World Rugby’s evidence-based approach to injury-management – are to be added to a package called Premium Standards for Elite Competitions.

Those new are mandatory uniformed injury surveillance programmes compliant with the World Rugby consensus statement, mandatory presence of a World Rugby standard match day doctor in addition to team medics at every match, mandatory video review technology functionality to assist with the identification and management of head injuries, and mandatory presence of a World Rugby representative on the HIA review process.

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These standards are applicable to World Rugby sanctioned events including Rugby World Cup, Women’s Rugby World Cup, Six Nations, Rugby Championship, Super Rugby, Champions Cup and elite domestic club rugby competitions.

Dr Martin Raftery, the outgoing World Rugby chief medical officer, said: “With a focus on injury prevention, we have now enhanced the package of mandatory standards ahead of Rugby World Cup 2019 to ensure that all competitions are capturing like-for-like injury data, have dedicated match day doctors and video review for medical purposes. We have the full support of unions and competitions and would like to thank them for their commitment.”

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Chairman Bill Beaumont added: “Rugby World Cup 2015 raised the bar with the introduction of detailed mandatory standards that included independent concussion consultants, video review to identify potential head injuries, independent match day doctors and accreditation of medics.

“These standards were subsequently rolled-out across the game and are underpinning enhanced concussion prevention, identification, and management, resulting in concussion incidence dropping.”

Alongside increases in concussion awareness, education and protocol compliance, World Rugby is claiming that its HIA process has also played a central role in the reduction of concussion rates in elite rugby. 

The latest data from the RFU Professional Rugby Injury Surveillance Project determined a 14.3 per cent reduction in concussion rates in elite English rugby – the first drop since the tool was introduced to help protect players. They say it reflects a global trend in this priority player welfare area.

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Sam T 5 hours ago
Jake White: Let me clear up some things

I remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.

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Ed the Duck 12 hours ago
How Leinster neutralised 'long-in-the-tooth' La Rochelle

Hey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂

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