Update: On Friday, Joe Schmidt revealed Mike McCarthy was ruled out for the season with a ‘severe concussion’.
Modern rugby has many uncomfortable sights. Mike McCarthy unable to get off the Parisien turf, and unable to lift his right arm at all, was right up there.
The 34-year-old had thundered and thudded for an hour at Stade de France, until his luck ran out.
He charged into another slew of blue shirts and, this time, did not get up. After lying prone for about 15 seconds, McCarthy came to and tried to get up.
His head wanted to but his battered body would not let him. Something was kaput. A pathway blocked.
It was a scary sight. Eventually, the medics arrived. They knew the moment they saw McCarthy. His race was run. On came the stretcher and Ireland lost a third player to injury in the space of 40 on-field minutes.
Post-match, Joe Schmidt told us that it was pretty certain that McCarthy was concussed. It was stating the obvious on a grand scale.
Devin Toner concurred but revealed something that confirmed our long-held suspicions on the Head Injury Assessment – World Rugby’s current default test for players with suspected concussions.
They are a busted flush.
At present, the H.I.A relies on all players completing a series of cognitive, numerical and word-based tests. You register a baseline score and try to match, or better, it to prove you are not concussed.
Right now, and for the past three years, far too many concussed players are passing the test.
Toner told us: “It is maybe a little bit of a concussion but he did the Head Injury Assessment and, I think, he did quite well in it.”
This is the same H.I.A that Tommy O’Donnell passed after being helped off in the Wales game last week. The same H.I.A Schmidt reckoned Keith Earls scored well on after being sparked out in that same game. Apparently it was only video footage of Earls being unsteady on his feet that did for him.
Brian O’Driscoll passed the H.I.A after stumbling off the Aviva Stadium pitch in 2013. After that game, he was asking teammates for ketchup. To this day, he can’t explain why.
It is all well and good carrying out a mental test, or three, when a player takes a heavy blow to the head.
The simple fact, however, is any player suspected of a concussion should come off. If a player is suspected of having a concussion, what good is a 10-minute window going to do?
What individual in their right mind would allow a player they suspected of receiving a concussive blow return to the pitch based on his demeanour, video replays and a test that is clearly flawed?
On Friday, Ireland Under-20 Max Deegan went off with a head injury after a French forward thundered cranium-first into the base of his skull. It was the second time in a week that Deegan left the field to have a blow to the head assessed.
The Blackrock lad is only 19 years old and is not getting a red cent for his troubles. He is honoured, no doubt, to represent his country but he should not feature in the rest of the U20’s championship. Life is too short for that craic.
If in doubt, sit it out.
While we’re at it, if a player has suffered a suspected concussion just tell everyone. The days of saying players have been ‘roughed up’, ‘knocked about’ or ‘bit of a bang to the head’ should be behind us.
We’re trying to set an example to the young, amateur players coming through.
Right now, that example is a dreadful one.
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