Christian Day demands consistency over concussion protocols

Christian Day, chairman of the Rugby Players Association, has branded inconsistencies in the application of concussion protocols at pro level as “stupid”.
Day calls for an urgent review of how head injuries are managed in the Championship and Aviva A-League.
On October 16, the RFU announced changes in the concussion management protocols which enabled players suffering head knocks in the Premiership to be temporarily replaced for up to 10 minutes to allow pitch-side assessments to be carried out.
However, those protocols are yet to be extended to the Championship or A-League, where injured players must choose between leaving the field permanently or soldiering on. Day claims the cost of providing additional medics is minimal and that safety must come first.
He told TRP: “We’ve raised this problem with the RFU and Premiership Rugby. Not only do the new regulations not cover the Championship, worse, they don’t cover the A-League which obviously throws up a problem in terms of consistency of treatment.
“You have players playing in the Premiership on a Saturday who may get a head injury and go through the concussion protocol, and then the same player could play A-League on the Monday and get exactly the same injury but be dealt with completely differently.
“It’s stupid and the worst thing is that not only are you putting doubt into a player’s mind, the whole point of these concussion protocols is we want to take decisions out of the physios’ hands. We don’t want physios having to make snap decisions about whether a player can stay on or not, it should be down to a doctor.
“Doctors and neurologists have said they need more time to assess players and it seems stupid that in the A-League and Championship we’re making physios make snap decisions – and possibly the wrong call.
“We’ve spoken to the RFU and Premiership Rugby and they’ve said that it’s a resource issue. But we contend that all professional players should be treated the same, no matter whether they’re playing Premiership, A-League or Championship.”
Asked whether the cost of providing additional medics is a prohibiting factor, Day argues: “The cost of an extra doctor is minimal in terms of the millions coming into the RFU and Premiership Rugby. You’re talking about £300-a-game, which for the safety of 46 guys who have to put their bodies on the line would be money well spent.
“Premiership Rugby are receptive. It is being looked into and I’m hoping that for next season the A-League will be regulated the same as the Premiership. You simply can’t have two sets of rules covering one bunch of players.”
NEALE HARVEY