Safety uppermost in players’ minds
FORMER Wales international Alix Popham has outlined plans to make rugby a safer sport for players.
The 41-year-old revealed his diagnosis of early onset dementia this week.
Popham is now seeking to improve the safety of the sport for future generations as he battles with the symptoms of his illness.
In an interview with BBC Breakfast, he outlined the plans he wants in place to improve the game.
Together with other players suffering similar dementia issues, Popham has helped publish a 15-point charter they want to be actioned by the governing bodies of the game.
“I want the governing bodies to come and work with us as a group and look at the independent research that’s out there and implement things we talk about in the 15 commandments,” said Popham.
“Limiting contact in
training.
“Having MOTs for players when they sign their first contract and then it’s done every year.
“Boxers have a yearly medical but rugby players don’t have that.
“They have over 10 times the hits to the head because it’s not just tackling, but being cleared out of rucks.
“All these impacts have an impact on your brain. Your brain doesn’t know what’s rattling it, it just knows it’s being rattled.
“So if we can all come together and put these changes in place, we can enjoy the game we all love going forward and the players will be safer.”
Staggeringly, Popham’s doctor believes the former Scarlets flanker had more than 100,000 subconcussions in his 14-year career.
However, Popham explained that if the “15 commandments” – a 15-point charter of changes to improve rugby’s safety – were in place when he played, then his exposure to brain injuries would have been reduced by 80 to 85 per cent.
Those 15 commandments have been drawn up by Popham and the other players involved in the legal case as points for World Rugby to reduce the number of brain injuries in the game.
Former England internationals Steve Thompson and Michael Lipman are the other two players to speak publicly about their battles with the symptoms of dementia.