From: Barry O’Driscoll

Sent: 8 July 2013 09:30

To: Brett Gosper

CC: Myra McGlynn

Subject: PSCA Concerns

Dear Brett,

It is with heartfelt concern that I write to you today, having witnessed the most flagrant abuse of the PSCA to date with George Smith’s return to action against the Lions on the weekend.

George quite clearly suffered a severe concussion, was cognitively impaired and suffering from gross motor movement deficiency on leaving the field. In his own words: “You saw me snake dancing off the field.” Yet the whole world also saw him sent back out to the field of play 5 minutes later at huge risk to his own personal health. There is absolutely no way of knowing whether George was in fact suffering from internal bleeding into the brain at the time, yet he was sent back out to play in the most physically brutal of test matches regardless.

The current 5-minute RTP test is failing players, fans, the IRB and rugby as a whole and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

I refer you in particular to section 4 of the Zürich statement, to which, as you know, the IRB is party:

The cornerstone of concussion management is physical and cognitive rest until symptoms resolve and then a graded program of exertion prior to medical clearance and RTP.

Furthermore, as Section 4.2, Return to Play Guidelines (RTP), of the Zurich Statement states (and again which The IRB has agreed to):

The RTP strategy must (…) follow the same basic management principles; namely, full clinical and cognitive recovery before consideration of RTP.

As the George Smith episode has demonstrated, rugby is clearly trivialising concussion, and children and adults alike are at risk of serious injury or worse. To give a man who has clearly just been knocked out a 5 minute test to see if he can stand up straight without falling over four times not only flies in the face of the Zürich Statement but is also an extraordinarily inappropriate manner in which to care for our players. Again I revert to the boxing analogy I have used in the past; If a boxer cannot defend himself after ten seconds he has to have a brain scan before he comes back. Here we are giving players five whole minutes to try to stay standing and answer a few basic memory questions! This is a staggering failure of our duty of care and one which I implore The IRB addresses with immediately effect.

If there is any way in which I can be of assistance to the IRB on this most urgent of matters please do not hesitate to contact me.

I look forward to your timely response,

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Barry O’Driscoll

Former IRB Committee Medical Advisor

From: Brett Gosper

Sent: 9 July 2013 12:24

To: Bernard Lapasset

CC: Myra McGlynn

Subject: FW: PSCA Concerns

Bonjour Bernie!

Hope you are enjoying your holidays mate?

FYI See below email from Barry. He’s harping on about this flaming concussion issue again. I reckon we just breed them a little bit tougher down here then you Northern blokes! No, but seriously, this could get some traction and we may want to think of a reactive. I reckon we could get Georgie Smith to be our spokesman though! He’s a tough old bugger to be fair to him!!!

Let me know if you want me to put out a statement on your behalf.

All the best,

Brett

Regards,

Brett Gosper

IRB CEO & RWCL Managing Director

THE INTERNATIONAL RUGBY BOARD

Huguenot House

35-38 St Stephen’s Green

Dublin 2

Ireland

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are obviously a complete fabrication, solely for the amusement of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Any unauthorised dissemination, distribution or copying, direct or indirect, of this e-mail and any attachments is strictly encouraged and may be unlawful, I’m not sure really. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the system manager, copy the message and post any copies held on your social media systems. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company. Finally, the recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of head injuries. The company accepts no liability for any damage caused by any head injury transmitted by this e-mail.

From: Bernard Lapasset

Sent: 9 July 2013 15:42

To: Brett Gosper

CC: Myra McGlynn

Subject: RE: FW: PSCA Concerns

Salut Brett,

I am very much enjoying the holidays. Australia is very beautiful. I very much like the Whitsunday islands and my children they enjoy the scuba diving! For me I like the wines more, although they are not as good as in France!

Thank you for bringing this to my light. This is not a surprise what you say about Barry. He like the sound of his voice, no!?

I will go back from holidays in two weeks more and will respond to your enquiry after then.

In the meantime please send mes salutations to the boys!

A Bientot,

Bernard

Bernard Lapasset

Chairman,

THE INTERNATIONAL RUGBY BOARD

Sent from my iPhone

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are also obviously complete fabrications, solely for the amusement of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Anyone who believes these to be real emails should get their head checked with a doctor just in case, you too may be suffering from CTE. Any unauthorised dissemination, distribution or copying, direct or indirect, of this e-mail and any attachments is strictly encouraged and may be unlawful, I still haven’t looked into this. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the system manager, copy the message and post any copies held on your social media systems and don’t forget to ‘like’ them. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company. Finally, the recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of head injuries. The company accepts no liability for any damage caused by any head injury transmitted by this e-mail.

From: Myra McGlynn

Sent: 9 July 2013 15:48

To: Brett Gosper

CC: Bernard Lapasset

Subject: RE: FW: PSCA Concerns

Dear Brett,

I hope you are well.

In regard to Dr. Barry O’Driscoll’s email 8th July 2013 I would like to advise that we respond to this matter with utmost urgency, first and foremost from a player safety perspective but also from a risk-management perspective. It is vital we consider how exposed the IRB would be if serious injury or worse were to befall a player due to CTE, particularly such a high-profile one as George Smith, Brian O’Driscoll, Conrad Smith, James Hook, Berrick Barnes, Benson Stanley, Andrew Sheridan to name but a few recent sufferers of concussion.

Also, as I am sure you aware there are currently c. 4,000 ex-American footballers and c. 2,000 spouses and family members of footballers who have filed a class action law suit against the NFL, alleging that the NFL knew the dangers of CTE and did nothing about it. We obviously cannot just bury our heads in the sand on this one but rather should be seen to take a pro-active, positive stance.

I would like to echo Dr. O’Driscoll’s recommendation and encourage a review of the current procedures in light of both the evidence at hand and the recent negative press we have received.

Please can you advise asap as to whether we can adopt this stance and I will prepare a statement for your perusal with immediate effect.

Kind regards,

Myra



Myra McGlynn

CEO/Chairman’s Office Manager & HR Manager

THE INTERNATIONAL RUGBY BOARD

Huguenot House

35-38 St Stephen’s Green

Dublin 2

Ireland

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it, although sensible, are also unfortunately fabrications, solely for the amusement of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Anyone who believes these to be real emails should both get their head checked with a doctor and lower their expectations of the IRB. Any unauthorised dissemination, distribution or copying, direct or indirect, of this e-mail and any attachments is strictly encouraged and may be unlawful, I doubt I’ll actually check at this stage. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the system manager, copy the message and post any copies held on your social media systems, retweets etc actively encouraged! Please note that any views or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company. Finally, the recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of head injuries. The company accepts no liability for any damage caused by any head injury transmitted by this e-mail, although that probably won’t hold much weight in court when c. 4k ex-players are suing their national rugby football unions.

From: Bernard Lapasset

Sent: 11 July 2013 14:10

To: Brett Gosper

Subject: RE: FW: PSCA Concerns

I did not know Myra has qualified as a doctor! When did she sit these exams???

As you know I am on holidays and it is most distressing to discuss such matters while I am trying to relax with my family.

Also, CTE? Unlike Myra, I am not a doctor!

I will consider Barry’s email in due course upon my return.

Until then, please only contact me if there is something which actually requires my urgent attention. I am trying to have a holiday.

Merci,

Bernard

Bernard Lapasset

Chairman,

THE INTERNATIONAL RUGBY BOARD

Sent from my iPhone

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are an even further fabrications of the author’s mind and in no way attempt to cast aspersions upon the impervious name of the IRB. This email is solely for the amusement of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Anyone who believes these to be real emails should get their head checked on the side of a rugby pitch for 5 minutes. If you can stay standing after that length of time, sure you’ll be grand. You’re probably not suffering from internal bleeding into the brain, probably. Any unauthorised dissemination, distribution or copying, direct or indirect, of this e-mail and any attachments is strictly encouraged and may be unlawful, but I don’t think so. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the system manager, copy the message and post any copies held on your social media systems (particularly Reddit, that gets loads of hits for some reason). Please note that any views or opinions presented in this e-mail are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company. Finally, the recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of head injuries. The company accepts no liability for any damage caused by any head injury transmitted by this e-mail, yet.

From: Brett Gosper

Sent: 11 July 2013 14:15

To: Bernard Lapasset

Subject: FW: PSCA Concerns

Hi Bernie,

Apologies, Myra seems to have gotten carried away with herself a little in her last email! She thought she was Jamie Roberts for a minute there!

That’s fine mate, we can have a chat about it when you get back from your holliers.

Have a good one mate and watch out for the sharks!

Yours in rugby,

Brett

Regards,

Brett Gosper

IRB CEO & RWCL Managing Director

THE INTERNATIONAL RUGBY BOARD

Huguenot House

35-38 St Stephen’s Green

Dublin 2

Ireland

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are…ehmmm, what? Oh yeah, this email and there are some files too and they.. are, ehmmm. Wait, what was the question again? Oh yeah, no, wait. Where am I? – ANZ Stadium mate, you’ll be right!

