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'Elephant in room' - Biggar's role in second Test questioned over latest HIA

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Dan Biggar’s participation in the second Test of the British & Irish Lions series in Cape Town has been called into question by a concussion advocacy group.

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The Lions secured a 22 – 17 victory over the Springboks but Biggar shipped a heavy knock and was removed for an HIA, from which he didn’t return.

After an excellent game, the pressure is now on for Biggar to return to the cauldron but Progressive Rugby, an advocacy group for mitigating concussion in rugby, has called into question if he should return.

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    “So… Elephant in the room Dan Biggar. Great player. Ultimate warrior. Vital to Lions. Reportedly HIA 1st Test. Says he’s “fine and already buzzing” for 2nd.

    “But problematic concussion history. Red hot topic after damming DCMS report. Will he pass return to play protocols in 6 days?”

    Warren Gatland has issued an update on Biggar, saying: “Dan got a knock and he has to go through the HIA protocols, he’s passed his first one.

    “He’d be non-contact early in the week and wouldn’t take part in contact until Thursday if he’s selected.”

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    It won’t be the Lions’ first concussion drama on tour, with former England scrum-half Kyran  Bracken lambasting management for allowing Exeter Chiefs’ Luke Cowan-Dickie play a week after sustaining a brutal KO that left him unconscious for a minute in the Gallagher Premiership final.

    As Progressive Rugby, who are championed by Bracken, point out, Biggar’s issues come just days after a damning report by the DCMS into concussion in the sport.

    It also comes after a new study that shows playing elite rugby could lead to changes in brain structure. Over one-fifth of elite players involved in Imperial College’s Drake Rugby Biomarker Study showed signs of abnormalities to the brain’s white matter.

    Rugby Players’ Association chief executive Damian Hopley admitted the report’s findings “will scare certain players”.

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    Rugby Union, lead by World Rugby, is undertaking unprecedented and world-leading measures to reduce the impact of concussion on players but it’s an issue that continues to dog the sport. A lawsuit is being taken in the UK by upwards of 175 players who suffered the ill effects of brain trauma as a result of playing the sport at an elite level.

    The Lions team will be named on Tuesday at 10am BST.

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    F
    Flankly 34 minutes ago
    Maro Itoje: What was said as Lions fell 'far behind' on scoreboard

    This is what dreams are made of

    Umm. Credit to a winning team, but to be clear … the team you beat is ranked 6th in the world, did not make it out of the pool stage of the last RWC, and came last in the 2024 Rugby Championship. Not sure any bookie has them as favorites for the 2025 RC either.


    Australia have made progress for sure, and of course that matters. But for a team made up of 4 leading rugby nations, including two that are ranked much higher than this opposition, a win is expected and a loss would be humiliating. Furthermore, with weeks of playing together, planning together and living together it is hard to argue that the Lions have had less opportunity for cohesion than Australia.


    A win is a win, and no-one should question that. But a last-minute one-score win that depended on a 50/50 penalty call is one to humbly accept, rather than to crow about. It was neither a beating, nor even a compelling win. I thought win was not undeserved, but it’s a close call on which was the better team on the day.


    And let’s get off this nonsense about it being like a world cup final. The local pub teams may feel that their big game is like a world cup final, but it’s stupid to pretend it is the reality. The RWC final is played by two of the top teams in the world, and there is no evidence that either of these teams fits that description. There is a game in Eden Park later this year between the #1 and #2 ranked teams that would be a lot closer to it, of course.


    Well done to the Lions, and congrats to the Wallabies. Let’s enjoy a good game for what it was, without pretending it was something bigger than it was.

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