After yet another commotion against Stade Français last weekend during the 5th day of Top 14, will Paul Willemse return to the rugby fields? He meets a specialist in Toulouse next week.
Paul Willemse’s future on the rugby field could be decided next week. The second line of the MHR, released with a new concussion against Stade Français (29-20) after a fairly insignificant shock with his opposite JJ van der Mescht in the 9th minute, will meet a specialist.
The French international (31 years old, 32 caps) has an appointment with Doctor David Brauge, neurosurgeon in Toulouse and attached to the French Rugby Federation since he is a member of the medical committee and expert. The latter will give the green light for a resumption of rugby in the days, weeks or months to come. Or not.
Paul Willemse suffered a new concussion against Stade Français, announces @Midilibre.
He had already stopped for 3 months in the spring after 5 concussions in less than a year. Willemse has just suffered a 6th for his second match, only after this break… pic.twitter.com/PFx1ftSQfJ
— Gauthier Baudin (@GauthierBaudin)
Five concussions last year
In an interview with Midi Libre last week, Willemse confided this: “This year is pivotal for me. Either everything goes well, I play a series of matches and it’s great. Or it’s a second option, and I stop playing rugby in the event of another knockout.”
For twelve years, the colossus native to Pretoria (2m, 130kg) did not undergo a concussion protocol. Last season, “I had five”. The medical staff therefore acted accordingly, and out of obligation, by putting it in the fridge for three months.
Returning to the game in Bayonne on September 28 after almost six months without playing, he returned in the 58th minute. No alert was to be declared. His return had even brought power to the forward pack. The following week, the staff lined him up for entry into the capital. After nine minutes and a first ball, Willemse remained on the ground again and did not return. “It’s a big loss for us.”declared manager Joan Caudullo at the end of the match.
Note that the Montpellier, who arrived in Hérault in 2015, will reach the end of his contract next June.
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