Johnson backs rolling subs
Thursday 1 October 2009 18:11, UK
England manager Martin Johnson has thrown his weight behind the proposal of introducing rolling substitutions to rugby union.
England chief feels rugby league-style interchanges "inevitable"
England manager Martin Johnson has thrown his weight behind the proposal of introducing rolling substitutions to rugby union. RFU chiefs are exploring the possibility of experimenting with rugby league-style interchanges next season as they look to ensure that the Bloodgate scandal is never repeated. The idea was one of 16 put forward by the RFU's Image Of The Game task force who have been given the remit of cleaning up the game following the scandals of the summer. Johnson feels the implantation of rolling substitutions could ultimately prove inevitable and believes they could also benefit player welfare, allowing potential cases of concussion to be more easily diagnosed. "Some form of rolling substitutions needs to be looked at," stated Johnson, who was addressing the Sports Journalists' Association. "I am a traditionalist and I liked it when 15 guys had to battle it out and you had to be fit for 80 minutes, but you come around to thinking about it as a possibility. "It is the alternatives. How did we get to people faking blood injuries? Player safety is an issue with players getting bangs on the head. "It needs to be looked at carefully and I am sure it will be trialled. You get to that point from other issues - the concussion and the blood bin - and maybe it is inevitable."Vickery example
Johnson cited the example of Phil Vickery, who sustained a severe case of concussion in last year's Six Nations win over Scotland, as to how rolling substitutions could prove beneficial. Current regulations only allow for a temporary replacement if a player has a blood injury, with RFU medical chief Simon Kemp revealing that as many as 60 percent of players who have suffered concussion not departing the field of play when they should. Vickery was nearly one of that number, with Johnson explaining: "Phil Vickery ended up with serious concussion and he didn't play for a long while afterwards but at the time, in the first 90 seconds, our doctor said it was difficult for him to diagnose how bad Phil was, whether he was just dazed or badly concussed. "Fortunately, at the time Phil needed treatment for a cut so he could come off for a blood injury and have time to be assessed properly."When that was done it was obvious that no way was he going back on a rugby field that day or even for quite a while. "It is good that some of these issues have been brought out in the report and that they are being discussed."
