Six Nations | World Rugby accepts Wales did not see North concussed

World Rugby has exonerated Wales for missing George North’s second knock to the head and allowing the winger to play out the Six Nations loss to England.
Rugby’s governing body launched a review of North’s medical treatment after watching video on Saturday, a day after the match in Cardiff. He accidentally banged heads with a teammate in a second-half tackle and appeared to lose consciousness.
World Rugby said in a statement yesterday that North should not have stayed on the field, but believed the Wales medical team did not see the incident before attending to him.
The statement adds, “World Rugby accepts the WRU’s explanation that neither the team medical staff nor the independent doctor had sight of the incident, and understands that the medics acted within the framework of information they had at the time, and would have taken a different course of action had they had direct pitch-side visibility or access to the same broadcast footage seen by those watching on television.”
Meanwhile, Wales will have instant video replays available to its medical staff for the remainder of the Six Nations tournament to avoid a repeat of an incident where one of its players continued playing after losing consciousness on the field.
Wales has come under criticism after winger George North played on following a clash of heads with a teammate in the second half of the 21-16 loss to England in Cardiff on Friday. He did not undergo a mandatory test for concussion.
In an interview posted on the Welsh Rugby Union’s website on Monday, the national medical officer, Prav Mathema, said team doctors did not see the incident involving North and that he was lucid when they arrived to treat him.
“Having seen it since, obviously, there is no doubt that he looks like he has a momentary loss of consciousness,” Mathema said, “and in that case he should definitely be removed from the field of play.”
Mathema said the incident has made his medical team look at where its protocols need to improve.
“For the next four games of the Six Nations, we are certainly going to have instant video replay for both our home and away matches,” he said. “We’ve also had this discussion with World Rugby, and we are hopeful that our discussions will spark some form of global intervention as well with regards to this.”
North was also accidentally kicked in the head by an opponent in the first half of the match at Millennium Stadium. He was temporarily replaced while he underwent concussion assessment.
Mathema says North is “symptom-free” after concussion evaluation on Monday, and has been since Friday. He has started his return-to-play protocol and could be available for Sunday’s match against Scotland in Round 2 of the Six Nations. MDT/AP