These are the latest rugby headlines on Thursday, March 24.
Rugby stars contact World Rugby amid concern over Six Nations incidents
The International Rugby Players union has contacted World Rugby and the Six Nations in the wake of several high-profile incidents regarding head injuries.
Wales front-rower Tomas Francis was at the centre of a storm when he was allowed to return to the field after a head injury assessment despite staggering and using pads to hold himself up at Twickenham. A review was kick-started given claims he should not have undergone a HIA at all due to his symptoms, but no outcome has yet been announced. Then, in the Six Nations finale, England prop Kyle Sinckler came off the bench just seven days after failing a HIA.
While the statement from the International Rugby Players union does not specifically reference these incidents, it reveals general concern about protocols and regulations governing concussion and the return-to-play process, RugbyPass report.
It read: "International Rugby Players has contacted World Rugby and Six Nations Ltd regarding several head injury issues in the recent men’s Six Nations competition. The global players’ body has been involved with World Rugby over the last decade in formulating protocols, rules and regulations in relation to the head injury assessment (HIA), graduated return to play and general concussion management."
Omar Hassanein, the International Rugby Players CEO, added: "We cannot place enough emphasis on the importance of player safety, particularly where head injuries are concerned. This involves, not only the continued evolution of protocols based on science but also ensuring that everyone plays their part in the proper implementation of those protocols. We believe in the need for openness and transparency and the need to project the right public message on head injuries, as well as the requirement for incidents of this nature to be investigated in a comprehensive and timely fashion."
Cardiff Rugby 'appalled' by URC post
Cardiff Rugby say they were "appalled" at United Rugby Championship's social media post seemingly mocking Aled Summerhill as he lay unconscious on the pitch.
Summerhill, 27, himself publicly called out the league after a clip - with a caption saying "goodnight" alongside sleeping and laughing emojis and "ZZZ" over Summerhill's body - appeared on the league's official social media feed. You can read his full statement here.
Now, Summerhill's region has responded, saying: "Cardiff Rugby were appalled by a social media post regarding Aled Summerhill, which appeared on an official URC channel. The video post made light of a collision against Emirates Lions in which, Summerhill lost consciousness and was subsequently stood down from the following URC fixture.
"As soon as the club was made aware of this post, senior URC officials were contacted, who were equally appalled and immediately removed the post. The URC have been in contact with the club and Summerhill to offer their unreserved apologies and are now investigating the post and reviewing their processes.
"Player welfare and safety is of paramount importance and the post was not in line with the core values of the URC or Cardiff Rugby. We thank URC for their swift manner in dealing with this lack of judgement, their subsequent actions and apologies to the player."
URC CEO Martin Anayi said on Twitter: "This should NEVER have gone up, we are investigating now with our social media agency - it has been removed - we take player safety very seriously indeed".
Jamie Roberts to make first Waratahs start
Ex-Wales and Lions centre Jamie Roberts is set to make his first start for the Waratahs on Saturday in the Super Rugby Pacific tournament on Saturday - just days after becoming a dad for the second time.
Roberts, who made his debut in February and has been used on the bench since joining the Sydney-based team in Australia, will start at inside centre to face Reds in Brisbane. He left Dragons in January to join his Australia-born fiancée as they moved Down Under before expanding their family.
The Reds sit second behind Brumbies in the table with Waratahs fourth going into the next round of games.
Dallaglio: RFU in 'cloud cuckoo land' over Eddie
Ex-England captain turned pundit Lawrence Dallaglio believes the RFU are in "cloud cuckoo land" if they don't recognise the flaws in Eddie Jones' reign. England won just two of their fix Six Nations games, enduring another disappointing campaign, which led to question marks aimed at the Australian's tenure as head coach. The RFU, however, threw their backing behind the antipodean, claiming England were making "good progress" and "strong positive steps".
Dallaglio is just the latest in a string of former players and pundits to be left bemused by the RFU's comments in light of such a poor campaign for England.
"[Jones] has tried to paint the rosiest of pictures, but it’s a disappointing campaign for England," he said on the Evening Standard Rugby Podcast . "If it hadn’t been for Italy’s victory [over Wales], England would have probably finished lower down the table. It is another losing campaign that didn’t start well and didn’t finish well. There are some serious fault lines in that team and that squad and anyone who doesn’t think there is, is living in cloud cuckoo land. To score only two tries in three games and generally play the way they have played, fans have got every right to ask the question.
"We have heard in an RFU statement, no name to it as usual, they think this England team is making solid progress and they were suggesting that Eddie is building a new team against their clear strategy. I would argue I haven't seen a hugely clear strategy. Eddie seems to think that they are only three per cent off where they need to be. I was never good at maths, but I know they’re a long way away from being three per cent off."
Owen Farrell return imminent after injury
Saracens are hopeful England captain Owen Farrell will return from his lengthy injury absence to feature in Saturday's Gallagher Premiership match with Bristol. Farrell has not played since suffering an ankle problem during his country's 32-15 win over Australia in November.
The 30-year-old was poised to make his comeback in January but then injured his other ankle while training with his club, causing him to undergo surgery and miss the entire Guinness Six Nations.
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: "Owen has been training over the last couple of weeks and fingers crossed he will be available for selection again on Saturday. He's been in team training seasons for about two weeks. We'll assess him tomorrow and Friday and make sure everything is OK.
"He's the captain of the club and he's obviously a great player, everybody knows that and for him personally it's great as well. He loves playing rugby and he hasn't played much. If he does play, he's certainly looking forward to it. We're chuffed to have him back."
