Madam, - I believe the cause of the frightening event which occurred at Murrayfield last Saturday has not been properly understood.
A Scottish player has been left under an unjustified cloud of suspicion and an important lesson for player safety has not been learned.
Immediately after an explosive burst of physical exertion a highly trained athlete such as Ronan O'Gara can be left with a transient oxygen requirement greater than 10 times normal. This requires him to breathe two to three times faster than normal, with each breath four to five times larger than normal.
For the short period until oxygen levels in his body are replenished, he is extraordinarily vulnerable to any mechanism of asphyxiation.
In just such a circumstance last Saturday, O'Gara was buried under a pile of heavy bodies.
He had been tackled in such a way that he was totally unable to brace himself against the weight pinning him to the ground.
His chest expansion and therefore his breathing were severely limited at a time of huge oxygen requirement.
He rapidly lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen and was clearly cyanosed.
Such asphyxiation by external compression of the chest is a well recognised entity and does not require extraordinary force.
In circumstances of pre-existing oxygen debt in the body, the situation could rapidly deteriorate with devastating consequences.
I feel the above represents an accurate explanation of what occurred in Murrayfield. Referees should urgently call play to a halt in such situations.
There should be no rush to judgment against players. - Yours, etc,
Dr TOM HOGAN
College Grove,
Castleknock,
Dublin 15.