WORLD Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin says that Ireland were within their rights to start Johnny Sexton in the second Test against the All Blacks in Dunedin last month.
Sexton, Ireland's captain and playmaker, was withdrawn in the first Test defeat for the tourists after colliding with New Zealand skipper Sam Cane.
He was selected by Andy Farrell for the second Test that Ireland won and, prior to the game, the decision to play the 37-year-old was questioned by All Blacks head coach Ian Foster and criticised by safety campaigners.
Ireland went on to win the game, their first ever victory on New Zealand soil, before securing the series win the following week, with Sexton vital to the historic effort.
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“It was an incident which was actually misunderstood as Johnny came off with a HIA1, which is effectively a tool to try and understand whether he’s been concussed," Gilpin told PA.
“In that case he actually passed HIA1, which means he wasn’t concussed.
“Ireland took the more conservative approach and he didn’t return to the field of play. So he didn’t go to the return-to-play protocol because he wasn’t concussed in the first place – and that’s a really important distinction for us.
“I think we saw across the July series that national teams were careful handling players, as well our adjustment to the graduated return to play in an individualised approach before that window.
“It meant that players who had suffered what we call ‘Criteria One’ and who have clear symptoms can’t return in that first 12-day period. The implementation of that was really good.”
There were other incidents involving Ireland players on the tour, namely Jeremy Loughman and Dave Heffernan, that came under the microscope, NZ Rugby put their hands up in the case of Loughman and admitted that a knock to the head of the Munster prop was not spotted.
Gilpin has vowed World Rugby “do not stand still” on the issue of player welfare amid claims that playing the sport has caused brain damage.
Lawyers for more than 185 players are suing World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union for allegedly failing to “protect players from permanent injury”.
The claimants include former Wales captain Ryan Jones and England’s 2003 World Cup-winning hooker Steve Thompson, with many of the former players diagnosed with early-onset dementia and other irreversible neurological impairments.
Gilpin said: “We have heard these stories and testimonies and we have huge sympathy with the players involved and their families.
“The first thing is heartfelt sympathy and our commitment is to listen as much as we can to those players’ testimonies.
“For those who are engaged in legal action we can’t engage them directly. That is really unfortunate, but our commitment to them is we don’t stand still on this stuff.
“We’ve put a huge amount of work in on player welfare and will continue to follow an evidence-based approach.”
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