1
Controversy in Paris as doubt cast over France's use of HIA protocol
By Ian Cameron
Questions have been raised following France's loss to Ireland in Paris this evening after doubt was cast over the home side's insistence that two players were in need of Head Injury Assessments (HIAs).
Both flyhalf Matthieu Jalibut and scrumhalf Antoine Dupont both seemed to suffer injuries to their lower limbs, but when they left the field the French medical team said that both needed HIAs.
On the 30th minute teenage debutant Jalibut left the field apparently with a knee injury, yet he was assessed as a HIA.
On the 76th minute Dupont left, again with what looked like a leg injury, and again a HIA was ordered. Irish captain Jonathan Sexton queried referee Nigel Owens, who himself questioned the match day doctor, who clarified that Dupont was indeed going to have a HIA.
Owens pointed out that he could only make his decision based off the recommendation of the match day doctor.
Under the HIA protocols, medical staff can assess the player for up to ten minutes. Theoretically, it would allow a player a longer period of time to be treated by doctors before potentially being brought back onto the pitch.
Ireland legend Brian O'Driscoll called out France on Twitter, writing: "That’s an injury replacement. No HIA."
Jamie Cudmore's concussion foundation - The Rugby Safety Network - also branded France's apparent use of the protocol as a tactic. "When a protocol put in place to protect player welfare is used as a tactic like it blatantly was by French today action must be taken or the entire HIA and concussion protocol is taken from. Abuse of process cannot go unsanctioned."
The HIA incident themselves could now be reviewed. A post game video review process where an independent video reviewer can consider the evidence surrounding a potential head injury incident could now take place.
The HIA protocol is being constantly monitored.
Speaking in September of 2017, World Rugby Chief Medical Officer Dr Martin Raftery said: “We are constantly reviewing our processes and learning from the evidence to ensure player welfare is at the forefront of the game.
"We acknowledge that there is no perfect system for diagnosing a concussion and that is why we continue to research methods and improve processes in this area.
“We recognise that in a small number of cases, we know the HIA process has not been implemented as directed or intended."
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Seven Springboks make World Rugby men’s 15s dream team of the year
3
The full list of 2024 World Rugby Awards winners
4
Stephen Donald weighs in on All Blacks eligibility ruling
5
Latest Comments
Not so many when you compare it to the squad of 50 plus players used by SA. Four main problems with the team and Schmidt shows he is a good technician but poor international coach by not selecting the best players and rotating and developing key positions.
First, the scrum is woeful if Bell and Thor don’t play. AAA and Nongoor in particular are poor. Talea may be good but is not good enough. Schmidt should select Sio, Ainsley and Latu as the bench front row. All playing well in Europe. He should also be doing better with Pone and perhaps getting him over to France to work on his scrummaging. Pone is our best running prop but poor coaching has killed him. Needs better coaching OS provided eg Skelton and Meafou. Secondly, 9 and 10 combo. McDermott is a confidence player and is terrible on a bad day. He takes several steps before passing which kills the speed of ball and results in turnovers. Better off with Kerr Barlow who is playing well with La Rochelle and making McDermott work on his skills. Edmed probably does need a run too. Thirdly, centre and fullback. Perese is our best defender at centre and should be in the squad. The outside back defence is poor without Joe and needs to be shored up. Wright is also a confidence player and has poor defence. When he is off like he was last week better to replace him with someone like Reece Hodge who has a great boot and good D. Fourthly, lack of ball runners who break tackles outside of Bobby V and Skelton. Wilson is not up to international standard and dosent break tackles nor does McReight. Replace him with Gleeson and Leota on the bench if fit. Would also be better playing Pone than Nongoor as Pone at least has a good running game. Latu also makes ground. Amatesero is also a better player than Williams. Frost has been the standout fine. Finally, player rotation. Schmidt is grinding key players like Bell and Bobby V into dust. He needs to give them breaks by utilising OS players more and developing youngsters. The loss of Meafou to France and the guy who captained Scotland exemplifies the poor coaching and development in Aus.
Go to commentsIt doesn't baffle me. We have seen this before from kiwi coaches in Australia. Exactly as I predicted Schmidt is chopping and changing the team every week and playing players out of position and there doesn't appear to be any discernable game plan
It appears the Wallaby players have lost faith in Schmidt already. Again, exactly as I predicted.
Once Aussies can see a kiwi is a fraud, all faith just goes out the door. It happened with Deans, it happened with Rennie and it's now happened with Schmidt. Players don't like being screwed around and they know when the selections and tactics suck.
We are going to get done like a dinner during the Lions tour, just like it was when Deans was coach and Schmidt will get sacked with his forty pieces of silver. He's a mercenary.
And congratulations on an honest assessment. Some in the Australian media have become sickeningly obsequious.
Go to comments