Six Nations player welfare incidents to be investigated
This article is written by Progressive Rugby
Six Nations officials have confirmed they are to review two player welfare incidents from the second weekend of the 2022 men’s senior and U20 Six Nations Championship.
The first saw the England medic appear to argue with French referee Auriele Groizeleau who had rightly stated that England winger Deago Bailey needed to be removed from the field and undertake a head injury assessment (HIA) following a heavy fall.
The physio was also heard to ask that the Italian player was carded, despite Groizeleau already ruling that there had been no foul play.
After the match Groizeleau told Sud Quest: “My report is with the match doctor, not those of the teams. If he tells me he has to go out, we apply the medical protocol without discussion.”
The second relates to an incident after 13 minutes into the Italy v England where referee Damon Murphy officiating his first ever fixture at the tournament, appeared to hurry the on-field England medic who had asked for time to hear what the independent doctor had seen on the video.
Murphy seems to lose patience at the time taken to assess Nowell and is heard to say: “Come on. He’s either going to a HIA or he doesn’t, let’s go. Make a decision please.”
The on-field doctor says he’s content but wants to wait for the independent medic to feed back. Murphy doesn’t appear to take notice and Nowell, starting his first game for his country in three years, races off to his position and plays a further 70 seconds before word comes down to get him off the pitch for a HIA which he subsequently failed.
A spokesperson for Six Nations Rugby said: “Every Six Nations Rugby Championship fixture is reviewed, and any necessary action taken in the event of an incident. Player welfare and the good of the game is paramount, which is a collaborative process between Six Nations Rugby, Unions, Federations and World Rugby, who have developed robust protocols and regulations.
“This weekend’s Championship games are being reviewed as is common practice and following the conclusion of these reviews, any relevant information will be issued.”
A spokesperson for Progressive Rugby said: “Both these incidents were of significant concern, and we await the findings of the reviews into these two games with interest.”