The HIA Failure World Rugby Doesn’t Want to Talk About

In this video, we investigate a deeply concerning incident from the South Africa vs Italy test involving World Rugby’s HIA system and the accuracy of their mouthguard technology. After a routine cleanout on Gerhard Steenekamp — a hit with almost no force — the independent match day doctor received an HIA trigger, while the South African medical team received no alert at all. This led to confusion, arguments on the sideline, and clear evidence that two different devices delivered two different sets of data for the exact same incident. What makes this even more troubling is the inconsistency shown throughout the match. Several far heavier collisions, including Kurt-Lee Arendse’s head-on-hip contact, a powerful double hit on Siya Kolisi, and major collisions involving Franco Mostert and Kwagga Smith, produced no trigger at all. In Arendse’s case, South Africa had to remove him themselves, because the system and officials didn’t. This raises serious questions about whether World Rugby’s concussion technology can be trusted. If the mouthguards are sending inconsistent or contradictory data, and missing the biggest impacts of the match, how can players, coaches, and medical teams rely on the HIA process? This video breaks down every angle, every moment, and why this issue can’t be ignored any longer. Thanks to VHA Accounting Solutions for their support of this channel. It allows us to produce the content that we produce! Under Section 12 of the Copyright Act No. 98 of 1978 (as amended), allowance is made for “Fair Dealing” for purposes such as criticism, review, education, and commentary. Fair Dealing is a use permitted by law that might otherwise be infringing. The footage used in this video remains the copyright of its respective broadcast rights holders. TASanalytics does not assert any claim of ownership over such material. All clips are used in a transformative manner, incorporating original commentary, telestration, and analysis, and only the minimum necessary portions are shown to illustrate refereeing decisions. TASanalytics is an independent channel and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any broadcaster or rights holder. The views expressed in this video are solely those of TASanalytics.