A New Zealand player is at the centre of another English Rugby investigation into the handling of a potential concussion incident. Sale Sharks are the latest Premiership club being investigated for alleged breaches of head injury protocols after flanker TJ Ioane was allowed to play on despite appearing to be concussed against Harlequins last Saturday. The joint RFU and Premiership CMRG, comprising independent chairman Dr Julian Morris, RFU director of professional rugby Nigel Melville and Premiership Rugby director Phil Winstanley, was heavily criticised for failing to sanction Northampton over their mishandling of North's concussion against Leicester. In September, Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond heavily criticised rugby's Head Injury Assessment, claiming 'all you need now is a slap on the head' to be removed from the field. 'We are pretty much the only country in the world that has a review process around concussion,' Ritchie said.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 14, 2017 22:27 UTC