WORLD RUGBY HAS concluded “discrepancies around process and communication” led to Australia’s Nic White wrongly being allowed to continue playing after suffering a head injury in his side’s 13-10 defeat to Ireland.
Wallabies scrum-half White was visibly unsteady on his feet following a tackle on Mack Hansen and an accidental collision with Josh Van Der Flier’s boot in the second half of the Dublin Test on 19 November.
The former Exeter player passed a head injury assessment before completing the full 80 minutes at the Aviva Stadium but was subsequently ruled out of Australia’s trip to Wales with a concussion. An independent review has now confirmed that he should have been taken off during the Ireland test.
“Progressive Rugby respectfully require answers from @wallabies after a player who exhibited category 1 symptoms of brain injury (Nic White) was not permanently removed from the game between Ireland and Australia on…1/2
— Progressive Rugby (@ProgressiveRug) November 19, 2022
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The investigation attributed the mistake to medics missing crucial footage of a dazed, stumbling White because they were busy reviewing the initial tackle.
Concussion campaign group Progressive Rugby and television spectators were among those angered by the events.
White, 32, was subsequently stood down for 12 days, resulting in him being absent on Saturday for his country’s 39-34 win over Wales in Cardiff.
World Rugby reaffirmed its commitment to the “highest-possible standards of care for all players” as it detailed findings of the review.
“The event involved two separate incidents,” read a statement from the governing body.
“Given the facts and footage available, it was defensible for the medical team to remove Nic White for an HIA after the first incident.
“The second incident resulted in criteria one signs according to the World Rugby HIA process, which should have resulted in White’s permanent removal from the field.
“Both the independent match day doctor and team doctor were in the process of reviewing video footage for the first incident when the second occurred.
“The second incident was not communicated to either doctor and therefore, in performing White’s HIA, (they) did not review any additional footage.
“Having been made aware of the second incident after the game, both doctors reviewed the footage and declared a criteria one diagnosis
“Discrepancies around process and communication, rather than interpretation of player signs, were therefore the key factors to affect this particular HIA process.”
