Campaigners have slammed the 'shameful' decision to allow Ireland's Jeremy Loughman to return to the field of play during the defeat to the Maori All Blacks on Wednesday, despite the Munster prop appearing to suffer a serious head injury.
Loughman noticeably struggled to get to his feet after receiving a heavy blow to the head just a minute into the game at the FMG Stadium in Hamilton, which the Maoris won 32-17.
The 26-year-old was initially removed from the field of play, only to return after passing a head injury assessment, although he was eventually removed permanently at half-time.
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However, guidelines outlined by World Rugby state Loughman's obvious struggles should have rendered a HIA irrelevant.
Footage of the incident has since caught the attention of Progressive Rugby, a lobby group of welfare campaigners, including Alix Popham, who recently helped spearhead legal action against the game's authorities after his struggles with early onset dementia were linked to head injuries suffered during his career.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Progressive Rugby told Irish outlet RTE : "It is deeply alarming, just days after World Rugby's bold announcement of a 'gold standard' concussion protocol from 1st July, that a player clearly demonstrating signs of a traumatic brain injury has not been removed whilst in full glare of the media.
"Even under the current protocol, the safety of Ireland prop Jeremy Loughman demanded his immediate and permanent removal, but the process failed."
The incident comes on the back of a similar controversy during the recent Six Nations campaign when Wales star Tomos Francis was allowed to return to the field in a match against England at Twickenham despite appearing to suffer a serious head injury. Francis carried on playing until he was replaced by Leon Brown on 56 minutes.
The Six Nations HIA Review Panel later stated that allowing him to return was a mistake, and Progressive Rugby took to Twitter to further air their concerns that lessons had failed to be learned. this time around
“21st June: WR announce ‘Gold Standard’ concussion protocol 29th June: One minute in Irish prop Jeremy Loughman leaves pitch with clear Cat 1 symptoms so must be permanently removed with no HIA,” Progressive Rugby tweeted.
“Has HIA and returns. A repeat of the Tomas Francis affair. Shameful and needs answers.”
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