That is the end of that.
Conor Murray will feel that in the morning https://t.co/3VsiZZAUv5
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 14, 2017
Conor Murray was on the receiving end of some pretty tasty treatment from Glasgow last weekend, but it was a blow to the head while making a tackle himself that caused the most concern.
Murray appeared to be left unconscious after a collision with Tim Swinson barrelled into him, viewers were shocked that the Munster star was not immediately removed from the field of play.
The medical team did, after reviewing the footage, withdraw the scrum-half for a head injury assessment (HIA).
However the EPCR Untoward Incident Review Group announced earlier this week that they intended to investigate Munster’s treatment of their own player.
Ahead of their final Champions Cup pool match against Ronan O’Gara’s Racing Metro, Munster have had confirmation that they have no case to answer for their treatment of Murray.
“The EPCR Untoward Incident Review Group has met on several occasions to discuss the Conor Murray incident in the European Rugby Champions Cup match between Glasgow Warriors and Munster Rugby on 14 January 2017,” read a statement.
“The Group, whilst acknowledging its role is to review the application of the World Rugby Head Injury Assessment protocol, has player welfare at its core. The opinion of the Group is that Mr Murray did not demonstrate any criteria that should have led to his immediate and permanent removal from the field of play. The player underwent further assessment by Munster Rugby’s medical team and its specialist advisors and, as such, the decision as to when the player returns to play rests with Munster.
The HIA system is far from perfect and, remains a talking point, but until a better alternative is put forward the best that can be hoped for is that HIAs are properly implemented.
