As the arguments rage about how best to recognise and treat brain injuries in rugby, clouds are gathering in the distance. There was fury during the summer tours when Johnny Sexton was picked for Ireland’s second Test against the All Blacks, a week after he had been withdrawn with such an injury in the first match. Meanwhile, England adopted a more conservative approach, withdrawing Tom Curry, Sam Underhill and Maro Itoje from their tour of Australia. Still those clouds gather. The appropriate treatment in the here and now of players with manifest brain injuries is non-negotiable, but it does not begin to address the wider crisis.
Last week, Ryan Jones became the latest former rugby player to reveal his diagnosis of dementia with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Last month, the Guardian and Observer published features on the neurological legacy of a career in rugby for two former All Blacks, similarly diagnosed, and their families. The conditions they are suffering are not the result of concussions or their mistreatment but of multiple rattlings of the brain over many years.
