Matt O’Connor has no answer to concussion conundrum

Leinster coach Matt O'Connor has no solution, it's clear that nobody does, but the alarming rate of concussive injuries was evident at the RDS on Sunday afternoon.

Leinster's surprising 16-14 defeat to the Dragons was overshadowed by the enforced removal of Richard Strauss, Noel Reid and Tom Denton.

Most worrying of all was Strauss. After just two minutes the Irish hooker was taken off the field but having passed the head injury assessments (HIA) he returned in the eighth minute. In the 26th minute Strauss sustained a second impact to the head and was replaced by Aaron Dundon.

“We are very, very fortunate with the doctors we have got and all three of them were here today,” said O’Connor. “They are in the best hands possible but it’s a growing issue in the game, isn’t it?”

In two Leinster schools matches last week - Clongowes Wood College versus St Michael's and Blackrock against Cistercians, Roscrea - a player suffered head trauma. Ireland winger Hannah Tyrrell was withdrawn from the France international in Ashbourne last Friday having sustained concussion in training on Thursday. France fullback Scott Spedding was forced off and did not return in Ireland's victory at the Aviva stadium on Saturday (Wesley Fofana and Johnny Sexton passed their HIA).

In this context, O’Connor was asked whether concussion in rugby is reaching epidemic levels.

“Yeah, no, that’s fair. I think because the awareness has been raised I don’t know if it is more prevalent than it was in the game. I think everyone is hypersensitive to it at the moment; that’s why it’s in the press, why it’s in all the games and the coverage that’s on tv. It’s pretty obvious to work out when guys have head injuries.

“But yeah, it’s alarming. It’s something we need to look at, how we can fix it I don’t really know.”