Ireland selection of Sexton deemed a ‘failing’ of concussion protocols

Progressive Rugby, the lobby group of former players and medical practitioners for improved treatment of brain injuries in rugby, has condemned the selection of Johnny Sexton for Ireland’s second Test against New Zealand in Dunedin on Saturday, insisting it demonstrates a “failing” in concussion protocols.

Sexton was removed after half an hour of Ireland’s 42-19 defeat in the first Test last weekend for a head injury assessment (HIA), which he failed. A directive from World Rugby only a week earlier had insisted that under incoming protocols, any player “with a history of concussion or who has been removed from a match with obvious concussion symptoms will sit out of competitive action for a minimum of 12 days”.

Following Sexton’s selection this weekend, seven days after his brain injury, a statement from Progressive Rugby said: “Elite players who fail an in-game HIA1 have, by definition, displayed cognitive dysfunction requiring their removal. In our view, this is sufficient evidence, regardless of subsequent testing, to exercise extreme caution for the good of both their short and long-term health. This caution must be further amplified in players with a history of brain injury, as evidence is they are at higher risk of sustaining further concussions and other injuries.”

Sexton’s concussion history has long been a subject of concern, with one doctor who used to treat him at Racing 92 speculating in public in February 2021 that Sexton had suffered as many as 30 concussions in his career. Whatever the actual figure, the 37-year-old’s propensity to suffer brain injury is well known. If the new protocols were to have any teeth, his return to play, barely a week after they had been issued, would represent as poignant a case