Warning for rugby players

RUGBY

THERE is every likelihood that current professional rugby players will suffer long-term brain injury as the incidence of concussion increases, a surgeon who worked for the Welsh Rugby Union has said.

The WRU, along with World Rugby and the Rugby Football Union, have been served with a legal letter of claim by a group of nine former players, including former England international Steve Thompson and Wales flanker Alix Popham.

The duo are part of the first generation whose entire careers took place in rugby’s professional era, during which it is accepted the game has become more physical and that the force of collisions has increased.

Professor John Fairclough is part of the Progressive Rugby group which is lobbying the game’s governing bodies to introduce measures to make the game safer, including a return to a minimum break of three weeks if a player suffers a concussion. Popham is also part of the group.

He fears that the problems being suffered by the likes of Thompson and Popham now will likely be replicated in those still playing who will retire over the next five years.

Citing a study in the Welsh professional game carried out by Cardiff Metropolitan University between 2012 and 2016, Prof Fairclough said: “Over a four-year surveillance the number of concussions was increasing.

“The likelihood is we are going to see more (players with long-term brain injury). In the 30-odd years I’ve been sitting pitch-side there has been an increasing number of people with head injuries so if we’re exposing more, yes we’re going to see an impact.

“Boards don’t want to harm their players but they want to err on the side of their business. What we’re saying is that at some point there needs to be a recognition of being on the side of safety,” he said.