Conrad Smith, a double World Cup winner who is the head of player welfare and performance in the International Rugby Players’ association (IRP), believes that limiting player workload is critical to reducing head injuries in the game. The former All Blacks centre says the issues of foul play and protecting players from head injuries have become conflated, and wanted to respond to a column in The Irish Times which was critical of World Rugby introducing a 20-minute red card; something Smith supports.
World Rugby’s council will meet on November 14th to determine if a global trial is introduced.
Smith finished playing in France with Pau in 2018, and having completed his Professional Legal Studies Course (Profs) in 2006 was involved with the New Zealand Rugby Players Association for most of his career, in part as a legal counsel. Smith took a small role with the Dublin-based IRP and has been full time since the start of 2024.
“Whether it’s a red card or a 20-minute red card,” he says, “you’re still going to have the same number of concussions and head impact events and injuries, so really this issue should be decided on the fan appeal and head injuries in the game, not player welfare.”
He cites his own career as an example, pointing out that any concussions he suffered were never the result of a high tackle, more tackles he made himself or “legal clean-outs”.
“The management of that [head injuries] should be based around the amount of training and games we play, not the degree of strictness in how we treat foul play.”
A bit like never crossing the road if you want to avoid being hit by a car, isn’t the logical extension of this just not to play at all?
“Yeah, but we’re talking about managing risk, not making the season only 10 weeks long, just putting in place some guidelines,” he says, pinpointing a maximum number of games and a requisite number of non-contact weeks, most or all of which is applied in the Irish system.
When did the All Blacks lose their aura?
“It’s a contact sport and we’ve got to accept that there’s some risk, but those steps will do a good job in managing player risk. We agreed at council last year a maximum of 30 games across 12 months. There is science to support that,” said Smith, who admitted that the International Rugby Players are funded by World Rugby, but counters: “Just because you’re funded by the governing body doesn’t mean you can’t challenge them every day, and that’s what we pride ourselves on doing.”
World Rugby’s 20-minute red card proposal is in keeping with its mantra of “growing the game and reimagining the spectacle”, but it seems to be at odds with its campaign to reduce high hits, which it is winning.
“I understand that but whether it’s a 20-minute red card or full red card the player is still sent off for the whole game. There is no way that their behaviour changes. There is still a very strict sanction for foul play, as there should be.
“So, this is coming down to fan appreciation and fan understanding,” says Smith. “Do they want to see 15 against 15? Do they feel like a game is ruined because a player is sent off and they’ve paid good money to go and watch? They don’t want to see 15 against 14. That’s a big part of this debate, and that’s what it should be centred upon.”
The French preside over a booming domestic league and the LNR, FFR and players’ union have produced research to debunk the theory that red cards “ruin” games as no more than 60 per cent of games are won by the team with an additional player.
“Yeah, but you’ve got to convince the fans and the people that pay the money to watch the game, and they’re a big stakeholder in our game,” said Smith, who adds that players are also widely supportive of the 20-mintue red card such are “the fine lines between what constitutes yellow or red cards”.
Smith does not subscribe to the view that Super Rugby’s appeal is dwindling, and that this campaign is connected. But the New Zealand view has clearly been affected by Sam Cane’s 28th-minute red card in their World Cup final defeat.
“That’s a red card. I still look at that, even as Kiwi, and I tell all my Kiwi mates that’s a red card. But it’s a harsh red card. I would like to have seen, for the sake of that game, him go off for the rest of game; still harsh but that’s the game we play, and the team gets a replacement after 20 minutes.
“I think that’s a fairer reflection of that sort of incident. Of the red cards that we see at the moment, I’d say 95 per cent of them are mistimed or poorly judged. There’s no malice or intent. They’re not the red cards of 10 years ago, and that’s the view of those who support the 20-minute red card.”
Smith comes from a time when Ireland never beat the All Blacks, witness his 7-0 record in the fixture, but he admits times have changed and he will be a keen observer at the Aviva on Friday evening.
“There’s a lot going into this game, and the rivalry has been spiced up a little by some personal rivalries,” he says, grinning broadly. “I think international rugby is in great, great shape, particularly in the competitiveness at the top, which is way more so than in my time playing. That’s brilliant for the game, and I think the New Zealand-Ireland one will be the biggest of them all this weekend. I can’t say how it’s going to go and that’s exciting.”
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