Tom Curry’s England return brings rugby’s concussion problem back under spotlight

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Your help makes all of the distinction. Shut Learn extra A hush descended on Allianz Stadium as an apparently unconscious Tom Curry acquired therapy from the medics whereas he lay susceptible on the Twickenham turf. The England flanker’s head had collided with the knee of Rob Valetini as he tried to sort out the rampaging Australian again row and he seemed to be out chilly.

It was really Valetini himself who realised the severity of the state of affairs and urged referee Ben O’Keeffe to cease the sport so Curry might be handled extra shortly. Fortunately, a couple of minutes later, Curry walked off the pitch with the assistance of the medical workers and was even capable of provide a wan smile as he was clapped by the capability crowd.

Sadly, the 26-year-old Curry is not any stranger to move accidents having sustained his earlier one in mid-September whereas taking part in for membership facet Sale Sharks – his fifth concussion in two years. He additionally flew house early from England’s 2022 tour of Australia after sustaining a 3rd concussion in six months.

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/21/14/newFile-6.jpg" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/21/14/newFile-6.jpg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/21/14/newFile-6.jpg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="Tom Curry suffered his latest concussion after his head collided with Rob Valetini’s knee" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 iSVhwZ inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

Tom Curry suffered his newest concussion after his head collided with Rob Valetini’s knee (Getty Photographs) His all-action, fearless fashion of play, which as soon as noticed him and Sam Underhill dubbed England’s “Kamikaze Children” by Eddie Jones, appears to make him extra prone to this sort of harm. In old-school rugby parlance, Curry is “not afraid to place his head the place it hurts” – a phrase historically delivered as a optimistic character reference and usually accompanied by a perception that after “getting your bell rung”, a fast dose of smelling salts needs to be sufficient so that you can get again on the market.

The Valetini collision occurred throughout England’s dramatic 42-37 defeat to the Wallabies on 9 November and, simply two weeks later, Curry seems set to be again on the pitch for Sunday’s conflict in opposition to Japan, with all indicators suggesting he shall be in Steve Borthwick’s 23-man matchday squad when it’s named on Friday.

This remarkably fast return for a person who suffered the most recent in an ever-growing variety of mind accidents – which is what concussions are – raises uncomfortable questions for rugby and brings their concussion downside firmly again beneath the highlight, if it ever really retreated into the shadows.

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Curry was handled on the Twickenham turf (Motion Photographs by way of Reuters) It's price remembering that rugby rolls on amid a lawsuit launched in 2020 in opposition to the sport’s governing our bodies by greater than 200 former gamers, a lot of whom have been recognized with early-onset dementia, persistent traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and different irreversible neurological impairments.

The testimonies from the likes of ex-Wales worldwide Alix Popham and England’s 2003 World Cup-winning hooker Steve Thompson as to how their day-to-day lives are impacted by what they imagine is the impact of head accidents sustained throughout their rugby careers are heart-wrenching.

The game has responded to the tidal wave of medical proof that has emerged during the last decade which particulars the lifelong influence that concussions and mind accidents have on the victims, by making some shifts in direction of limiting head contact and prioritising participant welfare.

World Rugby can not touch upon the specifics of the lawsuit for authorized causes however insists that “rugby stays on the forefront of managing concussion and lowering head impacts on the whole” and highlights initiatives akin to good mouthguards, reducing the authorized sort out peak locally sport and its ever-evolving head harm evaluation (HIA) protocol. For instance, again in 2022, it launched a brand new protocol stating that any participant with a historical past of concussion or who's faraway from a match with apparent concussion signs should sit out at the least the following 12 days slightly than bear a seven-day HIA course of as beforehand.

The truth that new World Rugby chair Brett Robinson has a medical diploma and was a analysis investigator in a concussion research involving the Queensland Mind Institute has additionally led to optimism that making the sport safer from a head harm perspective shall be a real precedence. In some methods, the difficulty is an existential menace to the very way forward for the sport.

Nonetheless, Popham stays unconvinced by the steps taken. “The measures mainly put in place since we went public [with the lawsuit] are quite a lot of smoke and mirrors,” he instructed AFP in an interview earlier this month. “The modifications that have to be made usually are not being made. If we're wanting within the mirror, we're not being 100 per cent sincere on actual points right here. Some large, large modifications have to be introduced in.”

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2022/02/03/13/GettyImages-72643480.jpg" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2022/02/03/13/GettyImages-72643480.jpg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2022/02/03/13/GettyImages-72643480.jpg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="Alix Popham remains unconvinced by rugby’s response to its concussion issues" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 iSVhwZ inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

Alix Popham stays unconvinced by rugby’s response to its concussion points (Getty) Amongst Popham’s concepts for enchancment are “relaxation durations after head harm, common MOTs, annual assessments for gamers and assessments to choose up on any mind injury from the week earlier than”, in addition to limiting contact in coaching.

The Curry state of affairs as soon as once more brings these points into sharp focus. To be clear, there is no such thing as a suggestion of any wrongdoing in any respect on England’s half – they've gone by way of the HIA protocol because it at present stands and their man has been deemed match and able to play. As assistant coach Andrew Strawbridge defined earlier this week, they're additionally working with the flanker on his sort out approach to try to restrict future head influence.

Curry himself has beforehand expressed no concern in regards to the state of affairs, saying in a 2022 interview: “Rugby is being put into a greater spot with analysis and what’s happening. I’ve acquired full confidence in my long-term well being. I’ll let the scientists care for that and let’s crack on and play rugby. If the analysis backs the change to the protocols then I’m all for it. On the finish of the day, my job is to play rugby.”

And who can blame Curry? Within the cauldron of worldwide sport, there's little room for doubt or worry of the long run to creep in – by necessity gamers should stay within the second.

You additionally can not merely depend on gamers both understanding or being sincere about how they really feel – though situations of gamers self-reporting concussion signs as England winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso did through the Six Nations this yr needs to be counseled. By the way, Feyi-Waboso additionally suffered a head harm through the latest sport in opposition to Australia however has not recovered sufficiently to function in opposition to Japan this weekend.

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Tom Curry has returned to coaching this week (Getty Photographs) Rugby should make the precise choices for the protection of its gamers, even when these calls are sometimes robust or unpopular. Relating to Curry’s potential return this weekend, participant welfare group Progressive Rugby voiced its displeasure on the state of affairs. It wrote: “It's massively disappointing to see an additional instance of participant security being positioned secondary to the need to play by participant and/or administration. Early return after a concussion carries a big threat of additional injury and trauma.”

Equally, journalist and writer of award-winning e-book Concussed, which examines contact sports activities’ relationship with head accidents, Sam Peters posited on social media that had been Curry a boxer, “he can be nowhere close to a hoop” given his a number of concussions over the previous few months.

Solely Tom Curry and the medical workforce round him know the specifics of his head harm and hypothesis is ill-advised, however rugby as soon as once more has critical inquiries to reply about a difficulty that can outline its future.