Rugby News: NRL newbies chasing Maori All Blacks back, Pocock wins BBC award, game's shocking new link to MND

New NRL franchise the Dolphins have an interest in a Maori All Blacks and Super rugby regular as they look to fill their roster for their debut campaign.

The Wide World of Sports website reported the Dolphins, coached by Wayne Bennett, are interested in bringing Chiefs outside back Shaun Stevenson to the 13-man game. Stevenson, 25, has played more than 100 SR games and has been a member of the Maori All Blacks for the past four years.

Stevenson is considered a potential selection for an All Blacks XV to play two games in Europe later this year, and an outside hope of breaking into the full All Blacks squad.

“The All Blacks team to tour Europe will be named later this week. If Stevenson gets the nod, he is likely to stay in rugby union – but if he misses out he will be more open to offers from league,” WWOS reported.

Pocock wins green award

Former Australia captain turned senator David Pocock has been named Athlete of the Year at the BBC Green Sport Awards.

Pocock, 34, is the first recipient of an award recognising a professional sportsperson who has advocated for, raised awareness of, or instigated action on environmental and/or climate change issues in the past 12 months.

The BBC said Pocock was lauded for being a passionate activist on climate change and leading the Cool Down initiative, which resulted in more than 300 athletes writing an open letter to the Australian government encouraging action.

Pocock, who retired from rugby after the 2019 World Cup, received the award from Australia cricketer Pat Cummins – who was also nominated.

New rugby related health scare

A new study looking at the impact of concussion on a group of former Scottish international rugby players has found that they were 15 times more likely to develop motor neurone disease (MND) than the general population.

The figure is likely to send shock waves through the sport, which is already embroiled in a legal fight over the link between concussion and early onset dementia and which is scrambling to find ways of reducing incidences of concussion in matches and training at all levels.

In findings published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry on Tuesday, researchers found that the players group had an approximately two and a half times higher risk of neurodegenerative disease than expected but that player position had no impact on risk.

The stand-out result were the figures for MND, a condition that has been brought into the rugby spotlight by the suffering of former Scotland lock Doddie Weir and former Great Britain rugby league halfback Rob Burrow.

Led by consultant neuropathologist Willie Stewart, Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, the FIELD research team compared health outcomes among 412 male former Scottish international rugby players and over 1200 matched individuals from the general population.

The study is a continuation of research made by the same organisation into neurodegenerative risk among former professional footballers and players, and also found similarities with the NFL.

“This latest work demonstrates that risk of neurodegenerative disease is not isolated to former footballers, but also a concern for former rugby players,” Stewart told journalists.

“It provides further insight into the association between contact sports and neurodegenerative disease risk. Of particular concern are the data on MND risk, which is even higher than that for former footballers. This finding requires immediate research attention to explore the specific association between rugby and the devastating condition of MND.”

The findings come against the backdrop of a group of almost 200 former players taking legal action against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union.

The claimants, who include England’s 2003 World Cup-winning hooker Steve Thompson, argue the sport’s governing bodies were negligent in that they were aware of the risk but failed to take reasonable action to protect players from permanent brain injury and subsequent early-onset dementia caused by repetitive blows to the head.

Thompson was diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2020.

In recent years rugby has implemented changes to the tackle law and moved towards a reduction in contact training in a bid to minimise head impacts but Stewart urged more and quicker action.

“I think rugby could be speeding up this pace of change,” he said.

“Rugby has to think about it. You can’t continue to put young men and women through what they’ve been put through, now we know that, even from amateur era, there is this risk of degenerative brain disease.”

England lose hooker for autumn series

England have lost Jamie George for their entire autumn programme after the Saracens hooker sustained a foot injury in a club match against Leicester.

George failed to appear for the second half of the repeat of last season’s Premiership final and departed with his left foot in a boot on Saturday.

Saracens have now revealed the extent of the damage by ruling the British and Irish Lion out of next month’s Tests against Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.

“It is expected that he will be out for around 10 weeks, returning in early December,” a statement read on Tuesday.

George had made an imposing start to the new season and now England’s boss Eddie Jones must plan for the autumn without his first choice hooker from the July tour to Australia.

Starting all three Tests against the Wallabies was a significant personal achievement for George, who was among the senior players culled by Jones in the wake of a dismal Six Nations in 2021.

Ankle and knee injuries sustained by his closest rival Luke Cowan-Dickie offered a route back into the number two jersey, but George kept the Exeter Chief out on the basis of his form in Australia.

Alongside Cowan-Dickie, Newcastle’s George McGuigan and Jack Singleton are the hookers included in the 36-man England squad that has completed a three-day camp in south-west London.

The first assignment of the autumn is against Argentina on November 6, with Manu Tuilagi’s name being cautiously pencilled in at centre.

Tuilagi’s stop-start career stalled yet again when he suffered a torn hamstring against South Africa a year ago and he has not played for England since, with the problematic muscle injury then followed up by a knee issue.

Now restored to full fitness, it is hoped the defence-scattering Sale back will be ready for the first of 13 Tests between now and the World Cup.

“He’s in really tremendous shape. His body weight’s good, he’s lean and ripped,” forwards coach Richard Cockerill said.

“He’s a family man now with different responsibilities, so he’s just a good pro and he understands his body really well.”