This weekend we saw the Springboks take on the All Blacks which saw one of the South African players Kurtley Arendse concussed. This was an accidental injury when Arense's head came it contact with his opponents hip bone which resulted in Arendse being knocked out.
There was no hiding this injury as Arendse needed time to gain consciousness which resulted with him rightly leaving the field. Not that long ago when I played you would have been cleared medically to continue as the doctors were more about keeping you on the field. There was no thought about the full impact and that this could result in brain damage later in life. Honestly I am more than happy having retired a good 6 or 7 seasons early because I know how many hard knocks you receive to your head each season and it is many.
The Ding Dong test which was the first concussion test asking you basic questions like your name or some other irrelevant question was never taken seriously. These days thankfully they look to see if your pupils are dilated or if you have been knocked out you are removed immediately from the field for your own safety.
I Arendse's case this is his third concussion for this season and his season is now over so his body is given the time to recover. I don't know how other Rugby Unions around the world are managing this and would guess from what I have seen are not as strict as this policy.
The current ruling in South Africa is your season is over with 2 major concussions ad there is no getting around this with players and management are on the same page in agreement. This is not only for professional players, but for any rugby player in the country covering all age groups.
I would love to see all sports get involved admitting that concussion is a problem that happens in contact sports. One could imagine the NFL teams having some push back with this because if your star player is ruled out for the season after only two knocks to the head then you would require a much bigger squad.
Finances is what is holding back player safety putting your players needs first over that of the teams needs. The medical teams during a match should be independent from the teams official medical team.
Next year we see Rugby going to court with more than 200 ex players in the UK suffering with dementia fighting for compensation. This may not end up with plyers being paid out, but more importantly a safety frame work agreed for helping current and future players. As a player you know the risks and you should be looking out for yourself and not blindly saying you were ignorant to the head risks. It looks like more players were thinking of the wealth instead of their health in this case instead of using common sense.
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