North stood down by Northampton

Editor

Northampton have stated that George North has been stood down from playing to undergo an assessment of the head injury he suffered on Saturday.

The Wales finisher, who played on after suffering the injury against Leicester last weekend, passed the head injury assessment at Welford Road.

But the Premiership outfit has now said that the 24-year-old will take time away from the field until an independent assessment has been made.

“All rugby supporters will no doubt be delighted to learn that George remains well. Nevertheless, Northampton Saints continues to place player welfare as its number one priority, and is referring George to an independent expert as part of the club’s ongoing assessment process and George will be stood down from play until this process is complete,” said Northampton in a statement issued on Tuesday.

It continued: “As at every Premiership match, the Saints’ medical team has access to video footage to be used to assist the pitchside assessment of injuries. It is important to note this video footage is not always the full range of replay angles available to the TV viewing audience at home.

“The medical team can only base their decisions on the evidence available to them at the time of assessment. World Rugby protocol dictated, given the evidence available to the medical team, the use of a Head Injury Assessment.

“George was fully assessed by the doctor away from the pitch using the established protocols and processes, and passed fit to return to play. As with all such injuries, if evidence suggesting a loss of consciousness had been available to the medical team at the time of assessment, George would not have been allowed to return to the field of play.

“There is a concussion management and monitoring protocol in place for all Premiership matches which provides for independent review and the opportunity for more detailed investigation. This is an ongoing process with several stages, and the club looks forward to contributing to this.

“Additionally Northampton Saints is seeking to work with all parties to improve the availability of all footage that may assist team medics with injury management.”

Northampton Saints host Leinster in the Champions Cup this Friday, with the reverse fixture set to take place next Saturday in Dublin.