“Clermont Rugby Player Forced to Retire Due to Concussions Criticizes Club’s Lack of Support: Exclusive Interview with Sébastien Vahaamahina”

2023-05-06 08:35:37

The player will end his career following suffering several concussions. He criticizes his club for not having accompanied him enough and for not having assumed his responsibilities.


The second international line of Clermont Sébastien Vahaamahina will have to put an end to his career following a new concussion, he indicated in an interview with L’Equipe, where he criticizes the Auvergne club for not assuming its responsibilities. Vahaamahina ( 31 years old, 46 selections) has not played with Clermont since December 10, 2022 and a match once morest the South African franchise of the Stormers (24-14), in the Champions Cup.

“In six years, this is the tenth (concussion) on record. There have been others, but they apparently weren’t recorded in my medical file. I have symptoms that get worse and worse following each concussion, with an impact on my life as a professional rugby player but also on my private life”, Vahaamahina told L’Equipe, recounting her “headache”, ses “dizziness”, on “fatigue”…

A week later, I wanted to come to the stadium driving alone. Result: I fell asleep in the parking lot when I arrived, I was so exhausted from having driven not even fifteen minutes. They also had to postpone my nose operation because anesthesia was not recommended in my condition.

Sébastien Wax noise

After two operations, the former Brive and Perpignan player, who arrived at Marcel-Michelin in 2014, has “resumed an almost normal life”, but keep living with it “a sharp sword above the head”. “Five months have passed and they (the leaders of Clermont, editor’s note) might have made me a decent and clear proposal to end my story with the club properly. If they haven’t done it, it’s because they don’t don’t want to do it. The club keep buying time and hoping that I give up. I thought I deserved more respect. I’m disappointed and hurt.”said the second line. “I understood that the ASM surely had something else to do than take care of its old soldiers”, he added.

During the week, club and player received a letter from the FFR, indicating the withdrawal of Vahaamahina’s license “following a letter from the ASM doctor and a recommendation from the medical commission before which I was never summoned”, according to the native of Nouméa who explains that he has not received any prior information.
“I’m ashamed for my club as my dismissal for unsuitability is in progress. I’m having a lot of trouble setting foot in the stadium. I told the managers that they ruined everything, as if they had everything erased. I was programmed to play, to give it my all and perform.” he observes.

“They had to and must protect us. The players have duties but also rights. They are in a hurry to finish me. All this is unfair. They do not assume. We are like cars for them. And when we is screwed, we’re going to the scrapyard”, says Vahaamahina once more, believing that “on several occasions, the rest periods following concussions have not been respected”.

He is the third ASM player to denounce the attitude of the Auvergne club, following second line Jamie Cudmore and third line Alexandre Lapandry, who filed a complaint once morest the club for “endangering the lives of others” .

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