Revealing stuff from the Irish legend…
Former Munster and Ireland fly-half Ronan O’Gara has said that he played a full Rugby World Cup game despite suffering from a severe concussion.
O’Gara, now a coach with Racing Metro in France, suffered a knock to his head in early stages of Ireland’s clash with Australia at the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
While O’Gara remained conscious after the blow, he was unable to think clearly after the knock according to the Irish Mirror.
“I played a game in 2003 fully concussed in the World Cup in Australia against France in the quarter-final, O’Gara said.
“I can remember I got tackled and I banged heads, got up and the pitch was like the size of a matchbox in my head.”
“It was just so much smaller than reality but I couldn’t refocus it – the eyes wouldn’t adjust. I was trying to get my angles for kick-in.”
But he remained on the pitch afterwards because he didn’t know what it was and he didn’t have any education on the effects of concussion or how to diagnose it.
O’Gara makes the revelation on a documentary airing on RTÉ at 9:35 tomorrow night called Hidden Impact: Rugby And Concussion.
This documentary follows on from an increased emphasis on recognising and protecting players from concussion in rugby in the wake of several high profile players suffering from the effects of multiple concussions including Jonny Sexton and Mike Brown.
