Todd Blackadder has called for an immediate change to one of rugby’s concussion laws after an incident which saw his team disadvantaged in the final minutes of their loss to the Chiefs in Christchurch on Saturday.
The unfortunate sequence of events occurred when Tim Boys, the openside flanker, was replaced after 67 minutes by Reed Prinsep, who was almost immediately knocked unconscious following an accidental clash of heads.
The concussed Prinsep was taken off the AMI Stadium pitch on a stretcher and straight to hospital after a break in play of at least 10 minutes, following which the Crusaders, 21‑22 down at the time, asked to replace him with Boys, only to be told by referee Chris Pollock that the law did not allow it.
The Crusaders will take on the Blues at 6.35pm Friday.
Looking at the Super Rugby results from round 1: the Blues beat the Highlanders 33-31, the Brumbies thrashed the Hurricanes 52-10, Jaguares beat the Cheetahs 34-33, the Lions beat the Sunwolves 26-13, the Waratahs defeated the Reds 30-10, the Chiefs defeated the Crusaders 27‑21, the Rebels beat the Force 25‑19, the Sharks beat the Kings 43‑8 while the Stormers took out the Bulls 33‑9.
