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Referee criticised for handling of Jack Nowell HIA decision
By Ian Cameron
Referee Damon Murphy was criticised online after allegedly rushing medics to come to a decision on whether or not Jack Nowell needed a HIA early in the first half.
Concussion remains a hot button topic in the sport and a conversation between the referee and the England medic was picked by eagled-eyed viewers.
Nowell was involved in much of England’s best work but was taken off with an injury sustained while tackling. It took several minutes before a medic could intervene before Nowell was replaced by Elliot Daly.
He subsequently failed his HIA and didn't return.
However, the Australian official was accused of rushing a decision on whether not a Nowell needed a HIA, which was adjudicated by an independent doctor at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Concussion activist Twitter account Progressive Rugby wrote: "Oh my goodness. Please tell me the ref has not just rushed a team into making a decision around a HIA?"
"As ever, there’ll be plenty of talk across the weekend of poor officiating in many different sports. Nothing will be anywhere near as bad as Damon Murphy rushing the HIA that Jack Nowell ultimately fails. Irresponsible, idiotic, wrong," wrote journalist John Collins.
"Pathetic from the referee rushing the England medic to make a decision about Nowell’s HIA. It was being looked at by the independent doctors for them to decide. All the chat about protecting players and the referee is trying to make it about him," wrote one account.
"So Jack Nowell has failed a head injury assessment after Damon Murphy initially allowed the HIA to be delayed? Serious questions need to be asked as to why the official initially allowed him to carry on," wrote another.
England are aiming to revive a Guinness Six Nations marred by their opening-day setback against Scotland when they face Italy at the Stadio Olimpico.
Eddie Jones has picked a side showing six changes in personnel and two positional switches with Harry Randall’s selection ahead of Ben Youngs at scrum-half designed to bring tempo to the attack.
Italy have lost their previous 33 Six Nations matches in a run dating back to 2015 and are heavy underdogs to register a first win in the rivalry.
additional reporting PA
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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