European Professional Club Rugby Chair Simon Halliday said that the sport is "sleepwalking into trouble" over its management of head injuries and concussions, according to Sam Peters of the London DAILY MAIL. Halliday and EPCR Deputy Vincent Gaillard responded to allegations made by former Clermont player Jamie Cudmore that "team doctors ignored strict concussion guidelines during last year's tournament." The two-year Head Injury Assessment trial was "enshrined in laws by World Rugby" in Aug. '15, but it remains "unclear how clubs can be held to account for breaching protocols." In Cudmore’s case, he alleges that in '15 he was allowed to play on in the Champions Cup semifinal against Saracens and the final against Toulon by Clermont’s medics, "despite failing the Head Injury Assessment once in each game." Halliday said, "We clearly as a tournament organizer take it [concussion] very, very seriously. We are desperate for leadership, direction and guidance from World Rugby on the disciplinary process, how it works and all aspects of it. We don’t have that at the moment. I hear good statements made but I’d like to see some action. ... We know, because we've read it, that some people are taking [legal] action. Prevention is a key thing. We are sleepwalking into a problem." Asked if financial penalties for clubs that breach protocols are on the horizon, Gaillard replied, "It is a possibility" (DAILY MAIL, 10/1).
