Scotland captain John Barclay has criticised rugby's new concussion regulations and revealed he was ruled fit to play recently when he knew he wasn't.
The Scarlets flanker, who should skipper Scotland in the autumn Test series opener against Samoa at Murrayfield on Saturday, endured a six-week lay-off due to a head knock sustained in a match against Edinburgh in late September.
Concussion protocols in rugby has seen strict new regulations brought in, including a significant input by long-serving Scotland and British and Irish Lions doctor James Robson. Players are now given Head Injury Assessments (HIAs) after taking a knock to determine if they can keep playing or not.
“I was never going to come back and play," Barclay told the Edinburgh News.
"I passed the cognitive function test. Technically I could have said I felt fine. To me that is where the system is so flawed."
“If I had said I felt fine I could have played because I had passed all the online tests and the memory tests and stuff, but I still did not feel right so that is obviously where there is room for improvement in the assessment of players.
“Everybody knows not to. It is just whether you chose not to. Where you are in your career. I think I am reasonably smart enough not to do that. I have played a bit of rugby. I have two kids and my wife is pregnant.
“I am not going to risk long-term ill health or do something stupid just so I was fit to play in a rugby match, whether it was playing for Scarlets or Scotland. I was not going to risk that. That is just my approach but I know some of the other guys may not have done the same.”
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