Six Nations: World Rugby accept Wales were not fully aware of the extent of George North's injury
Wednesday 11 February 2015 14:41, UK
World Rugby have released a statement saying Wales winger George North should not have remained on the field and finished the match after he suffered a head injury during the loss to England on Friday night.
However, rugby’s international governing body accept that the Welsh medical staff were not aware of the seriousness of the injury and would have acted differently if they had seen TV footage of the incident.
Wales were heavily criticised following the 21-16 loss for allowing North to continue playing after he appeared to briefly lose consciousness when he accidentally banged heads with team mate Richard Hibbard in the second half.
The Northampton man went off for 10 minutes when he suffered a blow to the head in the first-half but, having received treatment following his 61st-minute collision with Hibbard, he went on to complete the match.
And World Rugby announced on Saturday that they would be launching an immediate review of North’s medical treatment.
They have now released a statement which read: “Following a full post-incident review, World Rugby believes that Wales player George North should not have remained on the field of play following a head impact in the 61st minute of the match at the Millennium Stadium on Friday night.
“The World Rugby head injury protocol clearly states that a player should be immediately and permanently removed from the field of play where there are any visible symptoms or suspicion of a potential concussion.
“However, following thorough discussions and input from the independent expert Concussion Advisory Group, World Rugby accepts the WRU’s explanation that neither the team medical staff nor the independent doctor had sight of the incident and understands that the medics acted within the framework of information they had at the time, and would have taken a different course of action had they had direct pitch-side visibility or access to the same broadcast footage seen by those watching on television.”
On Monday, Wales medical officer Prav Mathema had said team doctors did not get a clear view of the second-half incident involving North, and that he was lucid when they arrived to treat him.
Having subsequently viewed video replays, Mathema accepted North should have been taken off.
World Rugby also announced measures intended to prevent any similar incidents occurring in the future.
“Player welfare is World Rugby’s No 1 priority and the incident highlights the importance of ensuring that medical staff are given the best-possible level of support to minimise the chance of a repeat incident and further enhance the protection and support of players,” they said.
“World Rugby will be immediately investigating, evaluating and promoting the implementation of the following measures:
1. World Rugby will investigate the practicality of the television match official technology being expanded to identify head injuries as they happen on the field.
2. All elite competitions will be requested to provide pitch-side video for medical staff.
3. All elite tournaments will be encouraged to adopt the Rugby World Cup 2015 player welfare standards.”
