Bulls keeping an eye on Steenkamp's head

The Vodacom Bulls will be taking a cautious approach when their looseforward and sometime captain Ruan Steenkamp returns from his time with Pro14 side Edinburgh at the end of the year.

Steenkamp, who is seen as one of the leadership figures in the team ahead of the Super Rugby season, suffered a concussion in his first game for Edinburgh in September and hasn’t played since.

Bulls coach Pote Human admitted he is a bit concerned and will follow the medical advice when Steenkamp returns as this is not his first concussion.

Former Springbok flyhalf Pat Lambie was forced to retire from the game because of multiple concussions and while the Bulls aren’t putting Steenkamp into the same category yet, the number of concussions he has picked up have raised some eyebrows.

Steenkamp missed several weeks of Super Rugby after being concussed against the Lions in March and also picked up another concussion in the Currie Cup match against Griquas at Loftus Versfeld in August. Steenkamp was also concussed against the Jaguares earlier this year in Super Rugby and has had a number of other knocks during his time as a professional rugby player.

While it is primarily the fetcher role that Steenkamp plays that puts him in harms’ way, the Bulls will keep an eye on one of their key players to ensure his welfare is the top priority.

Concussion remains the leading cause of injury in the sport, and was one of the reasons why World Rugby introduced their head-high tackle protocol to try and minimise the dangers of the tackle in the sport.

"Stoney only joins us on 1 January – the first game he played overseas he had a knock and was out with concussion. They took him out of the mix and as far as I know he only started making contact again this week," Human said.

"We will have a good look at him when he gets back, and will handle him with care. I’m definitely not going to gamble with his life."

When exactly it becomes a danger to the player’s health is a point often under discussion in the sport. While players are clear that they want to play, there is a clear concern for player welfare.

A number of top players overseas, including the likes of Jared Payne, Dominic Ryan, Jonathan Thomas, Kevin McLaughlin, Dave McSharry and Peter Grant all were forced to retire due to concussion.