Rugby: Ben Smith and Ryan Crotty open up on battles with concussion

All Blacks Ben Smith and Ryan Crotty during a press conference at the team hotel in Dunedin last year. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

It's not a source of comfort that concussion has become the most prevalent injury in elite rugby, but it is a welcome sign of the changing times that senior All Blacks are able to be so refreshingly honest about it and the challenges head knocks pose them.

Ryan Crotty and Ben Smith, two players who have suffered repeat bouts of concussion, were happy to field questions about their respective personal battles and in the former's case, the journey he has endured to be passed fit and available for the first test this Saturday.

Crotty hasn't played since he was forced off in the first half of the Crusaders clash with the Blues on May 19 following a head knock. Symptoms persisted for almost two weeks, forcing him to miss the games against the Hurricanes and Chiefs and leave him in doubt for the first test at Eden Park.

But by the time he reported for All Blacks duty on Sunday, he had done enough to prove he was all clear and is now expected to take his place in the All Blacks midfield. "I'm good," he said.

"Refreshed and excited is how I would say I am feeling. I had the last couple of weeks off but I did what needed to be done to get right and I am fit and available this week.

"That's the process. Rest until you have no symptoms and once you have no symptoms you can start to train again and gradually increase the intensity whether that is lifting weights, running or contact.

"That's kind of how the doctors set it out but it is a little bit different to your hamstring because it is your brain but you are just as diligent and make sure it is right before you come back and play again."

Smith is set to play his first test since he took a four-month sabbatical following last year's second Bledisloe Cup test.

Prior to taking that break, he was badly affected by a major head knock he suffered in the first test against the British & Irish Lions - an injury that came only a couple of weeks after he'd returned from another concussion.

He was eventually diagnosed with vertigo but the anxiety he suffered when he was suffering from prolonged periods of dizziness was intense.

Having been through that, he says that it is critical for his peers to not suffer in silence or try to hide how they are feeling.

"I think it is always important to be honest with the doctors so they know how you are feeling," he says.

"If you are not the best person out there to be doing that role, the good thing is that within the team there will be someone who can slot straight in there and do that role."

Smith revealed that having suffered repeat knocks in quick succession last year he had to contemplate the potential long-term consequences to his health.

Crotty, who has suffered two concussions this year and two last year, says he monitors his recovery from concussion carefully and also tracks his brain function every year to be sure there is no long-term deterioration of his mental capabilities.

"If I wasn't to bounce back from one [concussion] as quickly as I tend to, then maybe you would think like that [giving up rugby]," he says.

"Potentially if they start to get worse. They are really diligent with it in the environment so you meet with some experienced doctors and I do a lot of diligence around it myself.

"At the start of each season I get tested to make sure that I am round the same point each season. If that was starting to trend badly then that would be something I would look at a little more deeply but until then, I am happy to keep going out there and keep putting my body on the line."

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