Here are the latest rugby headlines for Saturday, August 13.
Rugby's concussion protocol branded 'a joke' by expert
A former medical advisor to World Rugby has branded the head injury assessment protocol "a joke" in a scathing assessment of World Rugby's handling of the sport's battle with concussion.
Last month, ex-Wales captain Ryan Jones became the latest former professional to go public with his diagnosis of early onset dementia at the age of 41. He joins others like ex-England hooker Steve Thompson and Wales back-rower Alix Popham. There is also a lawsuit, triggered by former players, hanging over World Rugby, the RFU and the WRU.
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O'Driscoll, a leading expert on concussion, told The Telegraph: “This head injury assessment protocol is a joke. The symptoms of any head injury surfaces in the first 35 hours, and they are doing a test which lasts 10 minutes before putting them back out on the field to suffer more knocks. What I told World Rugby 10 years ago, and they ignored, has now come true. Where have they been over the last 10 years?”
O'Driscoll added: “For World Rugby to say that degenerative brain disease is not yet established as a consequence of repeated head injuries is a travesty. They say it is not established but that’s not the right message I’m afraid. It’s a very irresponsible comment because he’s [World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin] taking responsibility for the strength of knocks which causes brain damage. It’s the non-concussive knocks at every tackle which we know causes massive issues."
Graham Henry issues rallying cry
Legendary former All Blacks boss Sir Graham Henry has written a one-off newspaper column for the New Zealand Herald, taking aim at the side's critics.
Current head coach Ian Foster is clinging to his job by a thread as he heads into the second Test against South Africa on Saturday afternoon having overseen five defeats in his last six matches. Another one will lead to a huge clamour for him to lose his job. Captain Sam Cane has also had criticism in spades and the All Blacks generally look as lost as they've ever appeared for at least a generation.
But Henry feels they have been subjected to "mean-spirited" and "unkind vitriol".
Writing in the Herald, he said: "The players, the captain Sam Cane and their coach Ian Foster have been subjected to unfair, unkind vitriol. These guys are giving their all. The distasteful, mean-spirited tone of the criticism coming from our own people and aimed at our team has made me wonder: Whatever happened to the team of five million? Whingeing and moaning? That's not the Kiwi way – it's embarrassing; and it's not how we want the rest of the world to see us."
Henry, who is part of New Zealand's Black Ferns coaching team ahead of this autumn's Women's Rugby World Cup, added: "I've been in touch with the team and told them they have my full support – I'm sure all true All Blacks supporters will do the same thing in their own way."
Wasps owner speaks out on financial issues
Wasps owner Derek Richardson has quashed claims the club is going into administration.
Friday was awash with rumours that the Gallagher Premiership side had filed for Company Voluntary Arrangements. This comes at a time when the club failed to secure a refinancing deal on the £35m it owes bond-holders.
“Contrary to some ill-informed speculation, we are not in administration and we are not going to be,” Richardson told The Times.
“We made a statement on the bond repayment on May 13, we’ve been very transparent with the market and the bond-holders. We’ve paid the interest on the bond and will continue to when it is due."
When the club moved to their new home in Coventry, £35m was raised by a scheme which saw bonds sold for £2,000 each. Investors received interest payments of 6.5% in return and were due to recoup all their money in May this year. However a statement was issued on the due date, detailing the refinancing of the bonds.
England forward wants more sport to be played in state school
England forward Shaunagh Brown believes increasing the amount of sport played in state schools holds the key to addressing the lack of diversity evident in elite level women's teams.
Brown was present at Wembley last month to see the Lionesses' victory over Germany in the final of Euro 2022 and was struck by the absence of any players from ethnic minority backgrounds in the starting line-up. Former England defender Anita Asante reacted to the "whiteness" of the side by stating that "visibility matters" and Brown acknowledges that it is also a characteristic shared by the Red Roses.
The 32-year-old believes the solution to widening the appeal of sports like rugby and football among girls and women is to expand its availability in state education.
"Looking at the Lionesses team that played in the final, they're all white. I definitely noticed straight away," Umbro ambassador Brown told the PA news agency. "I walk into a room and I'm generally the only mixed race female and sometimes the only person of colour full stop, so I notice it.
"It's no player's fault and it's not the staffing or support system's fault because they can only pick from a certain pool of talent. The problem - and it is a problem - is where the talent is coming from. What systems are in place at state schools to encourage people like me to play rugby at any age, like they do with boys at private schools?
"Where are rugby clubs going to get their talent? You need to invest into secondary state schools and that would open up a world to so many more people. In terms of diversity in the sport, it's got a very, very long way to go, but that starts at a lot lower than at the elite level. It's certainly something I notice.
"There's so much positive still in the women's game, but across the board there's a long way to go. In this country only 13 per cent of people are ethnic minorities, so you have to be realistic about these things, but there's no reason why we can't over-encourage people who don't normally play rugby or sport."
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