More than just protecting your teeth
Over the last 6 months there has been a trial happening with various rugby club teams involved testing a new blue tooth gum guard. This latest piece of technology records your heart rate, but more importantly records the g-forces on your head during contact.
World Rugby and the England Rugby Football Union have been under serious pressure with over 300 ex players joining the lawsuit stating they were not protected sufficiently from head injuries whilst playing. many of these players are now suffering from Dementia, Neurological disorders and Motor Neuron Disease.
The joke amongst ex New Zealand players meeting up regularly is they need name tags as they have forgotten who their team mates are. This is something we have known about for years and is nothing new. Players play more rugby now than before so the consequences of brain diseases are being highlighted by current players still playing the sport.
These are the hidden dangers of playing a contact sport such as rugby and if the players were honest with themselves this was rather obvious. What did they expect would happen when you throw your body around and stick your head in places most people would not. Certain positions are more vulnerable than others and this policing has come to late.
From my plying experience you played hard, but were never overly stupid with what you did. We all knew about concussions and even back in my day being the 1990's if you had blurred vision or head aches you left the field. The coaches would try and talk you into going back on and down playing concussion as a minor ailment.
The new data that will be recorded by these blue tooth gum guards will highlight what we already know being that rugby collisions are not healthy. The International Rugby Board has changed the rules to try and protect the players, but it is impossible to make it a 100% safe.
Ignorance by officials and a non acceptance by the players has resulted in far more brain issues than there should be. The no arms tackle with contact to the head has been something that should have been fixed years ago and not only now. There will be plenty more players joining this lawsuit with some players who were recommended to retire, but didn't listen and heed the doctors advice. Johnny Sexton the Irish captain was advised years ago and only retired yesterday.
What the data will highlight is the number of players suffering from concussion is a lot more than we may think as it happens in every game multiple times. Players who have played the sport for a long time may not even realise what a concussion is anymore and it is not necessarily receiving a big blow to the head.
3 weeks ago we saw Anton Du Pont fracture his cheek bone resulting in a titanium plate being fitted. He is in action tonight just 20 days after he sustained the injury and this is with the new tackle rules in effect. Another South African player suffered a similar injury a week later fracturing his cheek bone whilst being tackled. Accidents happen as no one intentionally tackles someone to injure their opponent and is more about technique and whether you are unlucky or not.
When I played we had gum guards mainly to protect your teeth and nothing else. They have evolved slightly with the main supplier for professionals adding a flavor to them removing the plastic taste. I am all for making the game safer but there also needs to be common sense applied. There areas till areas of concern that could be refereed more safely and that will only happen if ex players get involved in all facets of the game including refereeing and coaching at all levels.
When I see hundreds of players suing the Rugby Union due to them now having brain damage I see it in the same light as a boxer doing the same thing. Some of the bigger known players in the law suit were known for being abrasive in their style of play and may have been macho at the time, but not so macho now and why I see it as being reckless.
Every rugby player has been concussed at some point in their playing career and not once, but many times. I can recall and know I had quite a few over the years I played but thankfully I stopped playing at an earlier age due to work commitments and family responsibilities. If I had turned professional though who knows how many more head blows I would have received. Being paid to play a contact sport changes how players think and they have to win the contact collision or they will seem as though they are not committed enough by the coaching staff. That is the reality players face and why concussions will always happen.