World Rugby Statement: George North head injury incident review

Following a review of the handling of George North's head injury incident during the Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints Aviva Premiership match on 3 December 2016, World Rugby has issued a statement expressing their disappointment that their protocols were not followed, but not that disappointed that they are going to do anything about it.



"Despite the failing by the club to correctly apply World Rugby's head-injury management protocols, World Rugby has recognised that the RFU and PRL acted swiftly and appropriately to implement measures with Northampton Saints and other clubs to reduce the probability of future non-compliance."

"While it is impossible to completely remove the risk of error, World Rugby remains disappointed that there was a failure in this case to identify and manage the injury appropriately, in particular considering North's medical history. With this in mind and to ensure that best practice is implemented in all elite competitions, World Rugby has instructed all unions and elite competition owners to ensure:  

• Complete compliance with the mandatory six-point head injury education, prevention, and management programme as outlined within the conditions of use of the HIA tool.
• Any clear or suspected symptom of concussion results in immediate and permanent removal of the player from the match or training session. The HIA is not applicable where a symptom of suspected concussion is observed – Recognise and Remove.
• Individual risk stratification of players as outlined in the conditions of HIA adoption is a priority and all management should undertake concussion education as outlined on World Rugby's player welfare website HERE.
• They are aware of their obligation under the conditions of HIA adoption that untoward incident reviews should operate where there are cases of apparent non-compliance with rugby's head injury protocols.
• They prioritise Recognise and Remove education via social and digital platforms to educate the entire rugby community in the importance of recognising symptoms and immediately permanently removing any players with clear or suspected symptoms from playing or training."

The full statement is available here.