Former World Rugby medical adviser Dr. Barry O'Driscoll said that increased awareness of concussion "will mean more rugby players being advised to retire," according to the BBC. Wales sevens specialist Matthew Pewtner, 25, "quit the game on Wednesday following a head injury." He is the third Welsh professional player "to retire in less than a year following concussions." O'Driscoll said, "We have moved on with our knowledge and we're more ready to advise players to retire. ... It does seem that the much bigger impacts and speed of the game that these repeated sub-concussive and concussive knocks are becoming more damaging more frequently." O'Driscoll -- who has previously criticized rugby's concussion protocol -- said that "the handling of players who have suffered multiple blows is a particular concern." O'Driscoll: "It's a balance for each person to make and I don't think we're anywhere near the stage of the game of saying, 'No, that's it, we can't pick you anymore,' [because] we don't know enough yet. But any player at all who has had three or four concussions, in my opinion must seriously think about the future" (BBC, 2/18).
