Captain Peter O'Mahony is unlikely to train today with the Munster team after what an official described as precautionary measures following their Pro12 win over Leinster on Saturday night.
The official added that although the team captain was widely reported in the media to have been concussed when his head collided with a knee in the first half of the match, Munster management and medics did not use that term in describing his injury.
“He was taken off as a precaution after a knee collided with his head,” said a spokesperson.
Following the collision the flanker continued to play but was withdrawn by the Munster medical team at the break and did not return to the pitch.
O'Mahony will take part in today's press conference in the build up to Munster's first round Heineken Cup Pool Six match against Edinburgh on Saturday in Murrayfield. He is currently being monitored under the return-to-play policy and will have been further assessed after a period of 48 hours.
"I'm not sure of the prognosis there but, obviously, he took a knock. He'll be monitored and well looked after during the week. If there are any issues there, he certainly won't be compromised" said Munster coach Rob Penney after the match.
Previous blow
In February of this year O'Mahony suffered a blow to the head at the Millennium Stadium in Ireland's Six Nations match against Wales and was doubtful for the next game against England. But the flanker showed no ill-effects and followed the International Rugby Board's (IRB) guidelines for such injuries. In the end he was declared fit enough to play in England's visit to Dublin the following week.
It was widely reported at the time in most of the national newspapers and television stations that the player had suffered concussion in the collision.
Yesterday Pro12 and ERC confirmed that they didn’t use concussion bins for matches because they are waiting to hear the results of the IRB trials on concussion that are currently taking place
“For us the decision not to use the bin was made by the board of the RaboDirect Pro12 and the clubs because we are waiting to see the results of the IRB trials and whatever recommendations they might have from those,” said a spokesperson from the Pro12 league.
The IRFU also released a statement saying that they monitor all of the injuries to their players in the provincial teams.
IRFU system
"The IRFU operates a central reporting system that records injuries incurred by all professional players," it stated. "Each player's injury profile is updated and monitored by both provincial medical staff and the national team medical staff. Player injury updates are also communicated verbally on an ongoing basis between the provincial and national medical teams."
The IRB have a protocol for head injuries that they call Pitchside Suspected Concussion Assessment (PSCA). Medics use a series of pitch-side indicators to assess the nature of an injury.
One of those is the Maddocks’ Questions: At what venue are we today? Which half is it now? Who scored last in this match? What team did you play last game? Did your team win the last game?
One failed Maddocks question, four errors in the player’s balancing as well as the presence of one or more other signs should see their removal from the game.
