Why Worry - Because We Must

THE GREAT Mark Knopfler once asked: “Why Worry?” Maybe all that Newkie Broon and Federation Ale cauterised his worry gene, had he been Scottish, rather than a Geordie, he'd have known all about worrying, and how to put a brave face on things.

Right now, I'm worried – between shiting myself at the thought of what a very-good Italian team might do to our Under-20s tonight, and being rather concerned that, just maybe, their elders will choose tomorrow to end their long losing run in the Guinness Six Nations, to leave us having to go to Dublin and win to avoid the possibility of another wooden spoon.

But, worrying about Scotland having another average season just might take our minds off the bigger concern for our game – where it is going, and, in particular, the game's currently unsatisfactory response to head injuries.

 For instance, Welsh tight-head Tomas Francis (pictured)  was knocked-out in his last match, against England. However,he passed his HIA (Head Injury Assessment) and was allowed back onto the field. He has subsequently been passed fit to play and will start against France, tomorrow. Significantly, perhaps, Francis suffered a concussive issue as recently as lat November.

Had he been a boxer, because he was seen to have been knocked unconscious, Francis would have been immediately removed form the bout and dependent on whether he was deemed to have suffered a straight knock-out – a blow to the head; or a technical knock-out – repeated blows to the head and body, he would have been subjected to a 90-day stand down, for a knock-out and, dependent on the severity, a 30 to 45-day stand-down for a TKO.

He would certainly not have been allowed back in the ring just two weeks later.

Sadly, the Welsh Rugby Union is gathering something of a bad reputation as regards medical care of its players. Most people in rugby still remember the fiasco of a knocked-out George North returning to the park, not that long ago.

Further petrol were thrown onto the flames of controversy this week when, on Wednesday, The Guardian published a piece, by Andy Bull. In the article, Bull reported how a significant degree of plagiarism had been detected in papers published by the influential Concussion In Sports Group (CISG).

The author was Dr Paul McCrory, founder and co-chair of CISGT, a body which is funded by, among others: The International Olympic Committee (IOC), FIFA and World Rugby. CISG consensus statements supposedly sum-up existing research into concussion and shape medical practice in this field across grassroots and professional sport.

The plagiarism detected has now cast doubts on the value of the CISG research and its credibility. World Rugby's response to recent cases, where former professionals such as former England hooker Steve Thompson have reported issues such as diagnosis of early-onset dementia.

Bull's article also points out how, World Rugby currently operates a six-day return-to-play protocol following a head knock – a long way down form the former 21-day stand down – a change which was made to bring the game into line with the CISG recommendations, made in 2012, in a paper of which McCrory was the lead author.

While Rugby Union sticks with its six-day return-to-play period, the AFL, which runs Australian Rules Football and The Rugby Football League have increased their return-to-play period to 12 days and 11 days respectively. World Rugby has declined to follow these other two sports, in the belief that a blanket time-limit would encourage players to under-report head knocks, opting for a case-by-case basis.

I certainly hope not, but, it might seem, World Rugby is either not treating the concussion issue as seriously as we would hope it might, or is simply burying its collective had in the sand. For the good of the game, let's hope this is not something which will bite World Rugby in the bum – ever.

 It might still be early days, with further development to follow, but, I have to ask, might the PIM Prevent Impact Monitor mouth guard be worth investing in and further development. If it works the listed $300 (£230) seems a small price to pay for added safety. And it's a damned sight cheaper than the $25,000 Floyd Mayweather reportedly paid for his.

Rugby's macho culture means, for far-too long, we have ignored the dangers of head knocks, but, unease and common sense are slowly winning the battle and we are increasingly paying attention to this facet of the game.

More still needs to be done, and we can only hope World Rugby wakens up and is pro-active in putting together a response to this problem, which works, before the game finds itself paying-out large sums in damages to injured players.

Rugby is a collision sport, as such, there will always be dangers, but, a world governing body which does not seek to actively reduce these dangers as far as possible, is not a world governing body which its game can have great faith in.

Why Worry? Because we should, indeed must worry about the future of a great game which has already lasted 150 years, and deserves to go for at least that long again.

FINALLY – to be a bit more cheerful, one of the games which really sold me on rugby was the Twickenham Jubilee Match, in October, 1959, in which a combined England/Wales XV faced an Ireland/Scotland XV. By my count, 26 Lions on the park, legends such as Ken Scotland, Tony O'Reilly, Arthur Smith, Hughie McLeod, Ronnie Dawson, Sid Millar and Jim Greenwood in the Good Guys XV, facing the likes of Peter Jackson, Bev Risman, Reg Jeeps, Ray Prosser, Bryn Meredith, Rhys Williams and Ned Ashcroft.

This was the first-time I had seen such combined XVs, there would be other games to follow as Unions celebrated their centenaries, in the early 1970s.

Well, the SRU will turn 150 next year, but, as yet we have no word of a possible celebration match, probably during the 2023 Autumn Internationals. Let's hope they have one planned, I feel it would sell-out Murrayfield.