Rugby is certainly not a sport for those of faint heart, spirit, or body. Recently-retired Welsh back row Jonathan Thomas summarised the gladiatorial mentality of the rugby player perfectly, saying that “you need to want to go out and hurt people”. Undeniably, this perception rings true. There is an accepted brutality to the sport; a devilish undercurrent that is entirely integral to the game’s growing global appeal to players and spectators alike. No-one involved in rugby would want to take that away.
However, when Thomas’ summation is viewed alongside the fact that his retirement was premature, at 32, and was the result of contracting epilepsy after suffering multiple head traumas, the equation becomes more problematic.
Thomas is also by no means alone in this. Over the past couple of years, the issue of head injury has been catapulted to the top of the rugby agenda by a number of high-profile cases and studies. New Zealand-based journalist Ben Heather caught the attention of the international rugby community with a sobering exposé on the issue. His report concluded that injuries in rugby resulted in almost five times as many catastrophic incidents (i.e. paralysis or death) than they did in American Football, a sport that had long had a reputation for danger. Add to these findings the fact that Wales wing George North was advised by medical professionals to take a month out of the game last April, following four serious head injuries in five months – including being knocked out twice in one game, and still being allowed to play on – and it was clear that something had to be done.
And done it was. Last year’s World Cup saw the advent of the Head Injury Assessment Programme, in which on-field head injury identification and management was coupled with team medics being supported by independent concussion experts. The results were unerringly successful, with post-match assessments confirming that no player was returned to the field with concussion throughout the tournament.
Whilst this is unequivocally a step in the right direction, rugby will only be made safer by a unanimous approach from governing bodies, players and coaches. Better tackling technique, taught from a young age, can equip the rugby players of tomorrow with the tools to prevent these injuries in the first place. And as Thomas himself argues, players themselves need to take better care. "It's not necessarily the laws of the game that's the problem - it's the awareness of the injury," he said. "It's more about players not trying to be heroes." Only with this three-pronged attack on head injury, will rugby become a safer game, and still retain the edge, the theatre, and the sheer physicality that make it what it is.
Edward Capstick
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