The 2014 Six Nations Thread

[Keyser soze]

Concussion is a much bigger risk in the 5/6 Nations than it was when Ollie Campbell was pinging them over. The size of the players of today and the ferociousness of the hits- I bet there are going to be consequences health wise for the current generation of players.

Is there any empirical evidence that this is so, either for increased incidence of concussion or that hits are more ferocious.

It seems to be an issue . BOD has taken an awful lot of hits.   I wonder if he'll have any problems later in life. 

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/nov/07/rugby-union-legal-claims-concussion


Rugby union will face huge legal claims over concussion, says doctor

• Barry O'Driscoll claims lawyers 'are licking their lips'
• Authorities accused of being 'cavalier in the extreme'




The Guardian, Thursday 7 November 2013 22.14 GMT   

A leading sports doctor has warned that rugby union should expect to face a series of legal claims from former players suffering with the aftereffects of concussion injuries. Barry O'Driscoll, a former Ireland international, says the sport will soon find itself in a similar situation to American football. The National Football League recently reached a $765m settlement with a group of more than 4,500 former players who claimed that it had concealed the risk of long-term brain damage.

O'Driscoll, a speaker at Thursday's Professional Rugby Concussion forum, claimed that rugby's authorities were "mad" and "cavalier in the extreme" in their approach towards concussion. His strong words came on the day that the Labour MP Chris Bryant, a rugby player himself, called for an urgent debate in parliament on concussion in sport.

"There is real evidence that people, when they are forced to play again after being concussed, can all too easily end up suffering," Bryant said.

The forum brought together players, coaches, and doctors in an effort to improve the collective understanding of issues around concussion. O'Driscoll, who resigned from the International Rugby Board's medical advisory board in protest at its handling of concussion injuries, was at the extreme end of the range of views represented.

He feels the IRB's new Pitch-side Concussion Assessment (PCSA), which means players who are suspected to be suffering with concussion have to leave the field for five minutes to undergo standardised tests, provides inadequate protection against the risk of serious injury.

He also argues that the suspicion of concussion alone should be reason enough to remove a player from a game. "I think the lawyers are licking their lips, I really do," he said. O'Driscoll added that players who have a PSCA and are allowed to go back on could, in five or 10 years, "start getting severely depressed or migrained".

The Rugby Football Union's head of sports medicine, Dr Simon Kemp, pointed out that since the PSCA was introduced, instances of players returning to the field while suffering concussion had fallen from 56% to 13% of all diagnosed cases.

Well this article is focussed on how the authorities failed to deal adequately with concussion injuries in the past. There is no information on whether its becoming more common or not. And no mention at all of the supposed increased ferocity of hits.
I'm not quibbling but there seems to be a prevailing attitude that the game is 'harder' than it used to be without any evidence being produced to back this up.

Personally I think most sports including rugby have become a lot more sanitised over the past decade. I have zero evidence either to support this viewpoint tbh 

[Dinny Breen]

Wesley Fofana ruled out of the rest of the 6nations,fractured rib. Good boost ahead of the trip to Paris.

Also

Philippe Saint Andre has left Louis Picamoles out of squad to face Scotland for his disrespectful attitude after getting sin-binned vs Wales.

I'd admire that from PSA, Picamoles was bang out of order and his reaction was very poor and he is such a quality player.

[AZOffaly]

I guess that answers my question. Fair play to PSA, but I wonder is there a more down to earth reason for it? PSA seems to be struggling to hold that dressing room.

[muppet]

I guess that answers my question. Fair play to PSA, but I wonder is there a more down to earth reason for it? PSA seems to be struggling to hold that dressing room.

Is this the same PSA finishing this ridiculously brilliant try against England?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3PHyrbUNM4

[mc_grens]

Ref concusions, it's hard to bemoan the  sanitising of sport when stories like this are becoming more common:

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2011/02/duerson-suicide-brain-study/

There isn't YET evidence that this is happening more, but it stands to reason that as players get bigger, faster, and stronger, and collisions become more jarring the current players will face more problems in later life than those in the past.

[Main Street]

I guess that answers my question. Fair play to PSA, but I wonder is there a more down to earth reason for it? PSA seems to be struggling to hold that dressing room.

France lost 11 or 12 games last year. Before the ball was kicked in 2014, he would already have been on dodgy ground.

[Walter Cronc]

I'd worry Parra and Trinh Duc will be back  to face us in Paris!

[seafoid]

Ref concusions, it's hard to bemoan the  sanitising of sport when stories like this are becoming more common:

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2011/02/duerson-suicide-brain-study/

There isn't YET evidence that this is happening more, but it stands to reason that as players get bigger, faster, and stronger, and collisions become more jarring the current players will face more problems in later life than those in the past.

It's clear now that smoking kills people but it wasn't in the 1960s

[Keyser soze]

Ref concusions, it's hard to bemoan the  sanitising of sport when stories like this are becoming more common:

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2011/02/duerson-suicide-brain-study/

There isn't YET evidence that this is happening more, but it stands to reason that as players get bigger, faster, and stronger, and collisions become more jarring the current players will face more problems in later life than those in the past.

Right so there is no evidence that more concussions are occurring, but there is evidence that they occurred very frequently in American football in the past!

Yes rugby players are getting bigger stronger faster in the professional era, maybe this will make them better able to withstand collisions better with fewer concussions as a result? Speculating on what may happen in the future is not evidence.
Sure maybe the harder surfaces rugby is played on now will have a bigger adverse effect on numbers affected by concussions, as many of the concussions which Ive seen in rugby result from players hitting there head on the ground or getting caught by an errant knee in a ruck/maul/tackle.

[seafoid]

Ref concusions, it's hard to bemoan the  sanitising of sport when stories like this are becoming more common:

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2011/02/duerson-suicide-brain-study/

There isn't YET evidence that this is happening more, but it stands to reason that as players get bigger, faster, and stronger, and collisions become more jarring the current players will face more problems in later life than those in the past.

Right so there is no evidence that more concussions are occurring, but there is evidence that they occurred very frequently in American football in the past!

Yes rugby players are getting bigger stronger faster in the professional era, maybe this will make them better able to withstand collisions better with fewer concussions as a result? Speculating on what may happen in the future is not evidence.
Sure maybe the harder surfaces rugby is played on now will have a bigger adverse effect on numbers affected by concussions, as many of the concussions which Ive seen in rugby result from players hitting there head on the ground or getting caught by an errant knee in a ruck/maul/tackle.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/apr/26/climate-casino-exchange/
Some years ago I had a conversation with a layman about flying saucers.... I said, "I don't think there are flying saucers." So my antagonist said, "Is it impossible that there are flying saucers? Can you prove that it's impossible?"
"No," I said, "I can't prove it's impossible. It's just very unlikely." At that he said, "You are very unscientific. If you can't prove it impossible, then how can you say that it's unlikely?" But that is the way that is scientific. It is scientific only to say what is more likely and what less likely, and not to be proving all the time the possible and impossible.j


So maybe today's rugby is just as safe as rugby 30 years ago. But I wouldn't bet on it just because there is currently no definitive evidence

[AZOffaly]

Oh Oh. From Midlands Sport. Is Jackson ready? Is Madigan?

Racing Metro say that Jonny Sexton could be facing up to six weeks out of action.

The French club has confirmed that the Ireland out-half picked-up a thumb ligament injury during last Saturday's defeat to England and Twickenham, but have been unable to put a firm time-frame on his recovery.

Racing coach Laurent Labit says that the 28-year-old could be sidelined for anything between 10 days and six weeks, which means that he's now likely to miss Ireland's next Six Nations outing against Italy.

[mouview]

Will anybody notice if he's missing?

[Never beat the deeler]

http://www.espnscrum.com/six-nations-2014/rugby/story/216365.html

[moysider]

I guess that answers my question. Fair play to PSA, but I wonder is there a more down to earth reason for it? PSA seems to be struggling to hold that dressing room.

Is this the same PSA finishing this ridiculously brilliant try against England?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3PHyrbUNM4

Yes. That's him.

[johnneycool]

Will anybody notice if he's missing?

The difference between a pat on the back and a kick up the arse is only a foot.