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Wales wing George North to see specialist after being knocked out Wales wing George North advised not to play again this season
(about 7 hours later)
George North is to see a specialist next week after the Wales wing was knocked out in Northampton’s Premiership match with Wasps. North scored two tries in the Saints’ 52-30 win on Friday but after the second, he was caught on the head by the knee of the Wasps forward Nathan Hughes. North left the field unconscious and in a neck brace but the club tweeted just before half-time that he was “awake” and the player wrote on his own Twitter account on Saturday: “Thanks for all the messages. Feeling OK, up and about.” A leading rugby concussion adviser has said Northampton’s wing George North could endanger his career if he plays again this season after he left the field during Friday’s victory over Wasps having been knocked out. It was North’s third head injury in the past two months.
A subsequent statement from Northampton read: “After the game North was conscious and in the Saints’ changing room with the rest of the team. He has been into the club today [Saturday] for treatment and will continue to be monitored by the Saints’ experienced medical team throughout the weekend. As with everyone in the squad, Northampton Saints places the highest importance on player welfare, and as such North will see a specialist early next week for an assessment.” “George needs to be given an extended rest period to figure out if this is something that he has just not recovered from or whether there are genuine issues,” the International Rugby Board’s concussion advisor Professor Willie Stewart told the Mail on Sunday.
North is to see a specialist this week after he was knocked out having scored two tries in the Saints’ 52-30 win. After the second he was caught on the head by the knee of the Wasps forward Nathan Hughes. North left the field unconscious but the club tweeted before half-time that he was “awake” and the player wrote on his Twitter account yesterday: “Thanks for all the messages. Feeling OK, up and about.”
The club said yesterday: “After the game North was conscious and in the Saints’ changing room with the rest of the team. He has been into the club today [Saturday] for treatment and will continue to be monitored by the Saints’ experienced medical team throughout the weekend. As with everyone in the squad, Northampton Saints places the highest importance on player welfare, and as such North will see a specialist early next week for an assessment.”
The injury was a worrying sight after North took two blows to the head in Wales’ Six Nations defeat against England last month. He controversially played on in that game before sitting out Wales’ next match against Scotland.The injury was a worrying sight after North took two blows to the head in Wales’ Six Nations defeat against England last month. He controversially played on in that game before sitting out Wales’ next match against Scotland.
The Northampton director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, said after Friday’s game: “He is OK now; he is up and walking about in the dressing room. It is a knock to his head, which is not good. We will look after him and make sure he comes back when he is right.”The Northampton director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, said after Friday’s game: “He is OK now; he is up and walking about in the dressing room. It is a knock to his head, which is not good. We will look after him and make sure he comes back when he is right.”
That, according to Stewart should not be this season. “I think he personally needs to say, ‘No, I’m not playing again this season’. If he does play again too soon it could be the end of his World Cup or even his career,” he said.
“The people looking after him, including Northampton and the Welsh Rugby Union, should be recommending some time out and the experts he is seeing should recommend some time out. No-one should be talking about playing him next week. That’s just ridiculous.”