Gregor Townsend less than impressed by new technology, he wants more research

Rugby News
Saturday, 24 February 2024 at 22:24
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Gregor Townsend, the coach leading Scotland, has expressed worry over the efficacy of mouthguard technology following an incident where Scotland's prop Zander Fagerson was sidelined for a head injury assessment during the initial phase of their victory over England in the Calcutta Cup match.
The deployment of a "smart mouthguard" triggered an alert, resulting in England gaining the upper hand in the scrum while Fagerson underwent evaluation off the field.
“I saw the tackle again – just a normal tackle. I think we have to really watch what we’re doing here. Trust in technology that’s not been proven,” said Townsend.
“What we’ve been doing over the last few years is making sure that any symptoms that are seen, a number of people can flag up whether someone goes off for an HIA.
“Zander was taken off for 10 minutes after what looked like a normal tackle but there was a spike alert from the mouthguard.
“I know in Super Rugby there were a couple of alerts and players were saying ‘there’s nothing wrong here, I’ve just made a tackle’, so we’ve got to watch that because you don’t want to be taking off our best players off the field for 10 minutes if there are no issues around concussion.
“We want to protect our players, that’s for certain, but there’s a bit more work to do before this technology is correct.”

“3/10” – 5 players who flopped in the third round of the 2024 Six Nations

We examine five players who struggled to deliver during the third round of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations, while England, Ireland, and France secured wins.

#1. Josh Adams (Wales)

Rugby Pass 3/10: "Scrambled on defence and offered a release with a big right boot. His leading role in the blitz defence meant he missed as many tackles as he made. Replaced by Mason Grady on 57 minutes."
Rugby Dump 4/10: "Not the force he once way, Adams looks out of sorts at the moment and will be under pressure from the likes of Mason Grady who was superb when he came on."
Planet Rugby 4/10: "Relatively quiet and spent most of the game defending but missed more tackles than he made. Would have liked to impose himself on the game more."
Wales Online 5/10: "Didn't get many opportunities to show his class with ball in hand but there were a few aimless kicks, and he missed a tackle on Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan in the first-half. Worked hard during the second-half but it wasn't his day."
Telegraph 5/10: "Tough day, copping an early blow tackling Aki before being steamrolled by Sheehan. Was later crunched too by a big Van der Flier tackle."

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#2. Danny Care (England)

Rugby Pass 5/10: "Taking over from the injured Alex Mitchell, he began busily before a 16th-minute overcooked touch finder took pep out of England’s early stride. Deteriorated from there, his last act on 44 seeing him watch on in despair as van der Merwe collected Finn Russell’s crosskick to compete his hat-trick."
Telegraph 4/10: "Sharp service for the most part, but was unable to control the game with the boot, kicking out on the full and was continually harassed with his box kicking."
Planet Rugby 4/10: "Several levels below Alex Mitchell. The lack of length from box-kicks put England under pressure, especially early in the second half, while his decision-making from the base was atrocious. "

#3. Ollie Lawrence (England)

Telegraph 4/10: "Perhaps unsurprisingly was not on the same page as Ford and Slade in both attack and defence in their first game together. Badly fell off a tackle on Redpath that led to Scotland’s third try."
Planet Rugby 4/10: "Barely saw him in an attacking sense. A few carries, one bad pass, one dropped ball – although that was George Ford’s fault – but not the form we’ve seen in the Premiership."

#4. Keiron Assiratti

Wales Online 5/10: "Got put through the wringer at scrum time where Andrew Porter got away with murder, but Assiratti got shoved backwards at a rate of knots at times. This was a tough day at the office but he will be better for it in the long run."
Rugby Pass 3/10: "Eaten in the scrum by the Ireland’s monstrous front row. It’s a tough ask going against one of the best packs in the world, especially one fronted up by Tagh Furlong and Andrew Porter, but on this occasion, Assiratti couldn’t stand up. Switched for Dillon Lewis on 52 minutes."
Telegraph 4/10: "Tough learning curve against Porter at the scrum, who in the eyes of the referee was dominant despite Welsh complaints about Porter’s angle."

#5. Nick Tompkins (Wales)

Telegraph 3/10: "Penalty for sealing off led to three points but led the defensive scrap well. One grim pass. Sixteen tackles but capable of more."
Rugby Pass 2/10: "Just not enough power when it mattered. Kept getting battered by Bundee Aki and, with ball in hand, made life difficult for North on his outside. Started well with some swift scrambling defence, but as the game went on he faded. Every time Ireland charged towards his channel they seemed to breeze through it."
Rugby Dump 4/10: "Quiet today, Tompkins was solid without really producing any direction for his backline."


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