Edinburgh (AFP) – Scotland manager Gregor Townsend has opted for a “smart” mouthguard after temporarily losing his second player in back-to-back Six Nations matches following a Head Injury Assessment (HIA) with the introduction of new technology. I questioned its use.
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In World Rugby's rollout, which will be used in all elite competitions this year, players will wear mouthguards fitted with sensors that measure “head acceleration events”.
Game day medical staff can monitor the mouthguard for alerts and remove the player from the game if an HIA occurs.
Scotland are thought to be the only team affected so far in the Six Nations, with hooker George Turner sent off in the first half for an HIA against France two weeks ago, and fellow front-row forward One Xander Fagerson was also clearly confused. Left the pitch — He was sent off in the seventh minute of Saturday's win over England.
Both players were cleared to return to their respective matches.
Asked after Scotland's 30-21 Calcutta Cup victory at Murrayfield whether Fagerson's temporary suspension was triggered by a mouthguard inspection, Townsend replied: “Yes, it was. I saw the tackle again. “It was just a normal tackle.”
“I think we need to take a hard look at what we're doing here, relying on unproven technology.
“What we've been working on over the last few years is making sure that symptoms that we see in a lot of people can indicate whether or not someone is going to go into HIA.”
“Xander was sent off for 10 minutes after what appeared to be a routine tackle, but was given a spike warning by his mouthguard.”
“There is still work to be done.”
Canterbury Crusaders captain Scott Barrett says mandatory safety measures are a “step too far” after his team lost 33-29 to New Zealand rivals Waikato Chiefs on Friday. said.
Townsend, himself a former Scotland international, said: “I know there were some cautions in Super Rugby and the players were saying, 'Nothing's wrong, I just made a tackle', so we took that. We need to keep an eye on it,” he added. Barring concussion issues, he doesn't want to take his best players off the field for 10 minutes.
“We certainly want to protect our players, but we need to work a little more on this technology to get it right.”
Mr Townsend urged authorities to learn from the two incidents involving Scottish players, and said of the new technology:
“We're getting a lot of attention and players are now very good at saying, 'I've got a head injury here, so I have to go off.'
“I think we need to do some more work here before we move on.”
© 2024 AFP
