‘I am absolutely disgusted… it’s a stain on our great game’: Ex-England scrum-half Kyran Bracken BLASTS Lions’ decision to select Luke Cowan-Dickie less than a week after Exeter star’s nasty concussion in Premiership final
- Kyran Bracken has slammed Lions’ selection of Exeter star Luke Cowan-Dickie
- It comes less than a week after Cowan-Dickie sustained a nasty head injury
- Cowan-Dickie has since passed the return to play protocols for Saturday’s game
- However, Bracken, an anti-brain injury campaigner, condemned his involvement
Former England scrum-half Kyran Bracken has branded the British and Irish Lions’ selection of Luke Cowan-Dickie a week after he was knocked out in the Gallagher Premiership final as a ‘stain on our great game’.
Cowan-Dickie sustained the head injury during a tackle in Exeter’s defeat by Harlequins at Twickenham and having passed the return to play protocols, the Chiefs hooker has been picked on the bench for the Lions’ match against Sigma Lions on Saturday.
Bracken, an anti-brain injury campaigner for Progressive Rugby, condemned his involvement at Emirates Airline Park so soon after the incident.
Luke Cowan-Dickie (No 2) was knocked out during a tackle in Exeter’s defeat by Harlequins
Cowan-Dickie receives medical treatment as he lies unconscious on the Twickenham turf
‘Luke is unconscious for over 20 seconds. Possibly 40-60 secs. How can he play the following week?’ Bracken wrote on Twitter.
‘I am absolutely disgusted that the powers that be allow this to happen. A stain on our great game.’
Lions coach Warren Gatland spoke to Cowan-Dickie about the incident that saw him removed from the pitch after receiving medical attention.
‘I asked how it was and he said he was fine, he said he’d never had a knock like that before,’ Gatland said.
‘So he’s done all the return to play protocols and he’s started to take a part in training. He’s another real competitor.’
Ex-England star and anti-brain injury campaigner Kyran Bracken (pictured) has slammed the Lions’ decision to include Cowan-Dickie in their squad a week after his concussion