The Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder has conceded that his medics, however well intentioned, made a mistake in allowing George North to play on against Leicester Tigers after he had been knocked out.
Northampton’s handling of the situation is the subject of a joint RFU-Premiership Rugby investigation, which is due to report its findings tomorrow. North was removed for a head-injury assessment but returned eight minutes later to play the rest of the Aviva Premiership game at Welford Road on December 3.
On Tuesday, North saw a specialist, who advised the Wales wing not to play for the next few weeks. “I can honestly say that our medics are fantastic,” Mallinder said. “[They] will always put the player first. That is not to say they have not made mistakes but they were doing what they thought was the right thing.
“The specialist said [to North]: ‘You may have been knocked out and even though you are saying that you remember everything and even though you have got no concussive symptoms we will need to treat you as if you have been unconscious. Therefore it is a concussion.’
“He has been advised he has a couple of weeks off before he returns.”