'We need to look after the players' - Graham Rowntree gives backing to HIA protocols

On a night when more than 80,000 people wedged into Croke Park to watch Ireland's biggest professional sporting rivalry, there were some uncomfortable truths unfolding in front of their eyes which could not be ignored.

It didn’t come as a surprise to anybody that a Leinster v Munster game, which featured 32 players with Test caps, was going to be physical. This was beyond the usual standards though.

By the 15th minute, Munster head coach Graham Rowntree had to move from the coaches’ box to pitchside to help manage their comings and goings, such was the extent of the damage.

At that point, the province had both hookers, Niall Scannell and Diarmuid Barron, undergoing head injury assessments. Scannell would return to the action after 18 minutes and play the rest of the game, while Barron’s day lasted just seven minutes in total.

While both of those players were being assessed, loosehead Jeremy Loughman (below) was also being seen to for a blood injury, and while he was quickly patched up, he played on until the 51st minute with blood seeping from above his cheekbone, and an ever-expanding bruise below his eye.

In the second half, the province also saw John Hodnett temporarily leave for a HIA, while in the final few minutes John Ryan became their fourth player who had to be assessed for a brain injury.

On the Leinster side, Ryan Baird was also withdrawn with a head injury barely a minute after coming onto the pitch, following a nasty collision with his team-mate James Lowe, and with Jack Conan already having been replaced with a different injury, it left the province swapping props Thomas Clarkson and Andrew Porter across the back row.

It all made for some difficult viewing at times, particularly on a day when the eyes of the sport