INSTRUMENTAL MOMENT
Histor y was made when a mouthguard aler t sent Scotland’s George Turner for an HIA
AS SCOTLAND hooker George Turner left the field of play against France in round two of this year’s Six Nations, he made history. He was the first top men’s player to be sent for a head injury assessment after a ‘smart’ mouthguard alerted independent medics.
Already trialled in women’s Tests, this was the first time that elite male players have worn ‘instrumented’ mouthguards. The gumshields send notifications to an app if an athlete experiences a “head acceleration event with G-force that exceeds 70G and 4,000 radians per second squared” (operating lag depending). In this instance, after a few minutes, Turner was sent for an HIA, later returning to play.
It’s believed that the reading was picked up for a tackle Turner made on France back-rower Charles Ollivon.
After the dust had settled, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said: “I watched the incident and it looked a fairly normal tackle. The big ball-carrier ran into George, who tackled hard, but George was taken off because of the mouthguard alert.”
Townsend also warned that we must be mindful of how we use technological interventions in our sport.
But Julie Paterson, the Six Nations director of rugby, said in the aftermath: “Six Nations Rugby, its unions and federations are focused on driving the game-wide commitment to prioritise player welfare and innovate in this area, to ensure we use the latest technology and enhance our processes where relevant to protect the players.”
She went on: “The technology around instrumented mouthguards has been developed extensively over recent seasons through the work undertaken by World Rugby. The ability to expand the HIA process to incorporate this technology is testament to the player welfare commitment across the game.
“Their introduction into the championship this year has been through collaboration with all six unions, leagues, clubs and the players. This highlights the positive steps being taken when rugby comes together with a shared objective to support the game and its players.”
The technology will become part of the HIA process in the Premiership from next season, while the cost for each gumshield is currently estimated at around £250, according to reports.