GAME HAS ‘FAILED’ PLAYERS
This breaks my heart... I know that may happen to me later on in my life
THE team needs you. That’s the only thing a player like Jason White needed to hear. Looking back, yes, the former Scotland captain — the hardest of hitters, biggest of characters, most inspiring of leaders— understands that he should have been more careful.
In hindsight, he also wishes one or two of the coaches who relied on him down the years had been a little less gung-ho when it came to the aftermath of ‘getting your bell rung’, as he describes the head knocks that form a daily risk for anyone playing contact sport.
That risk was l aid bare yesterday following the news that three players from his generation have been diagnosed with early onset dementia.
And the 42-year- old said he could understand why England’s 2003 World Cup-winner Steve Thompson, also 42, former England international Michael Lipman, 40, and Welshman Alix Popham, 41, were part of a legal action against rugby authorities after alleging their condition was brought on by head knocks they sustained playing the sport.
‘It was heartbreaking to hear their stories as these are guys who are all around the same age as me and played roughly at the same time as me,’ said White. ‘I am the same as them in so many ways. I took part in a lot of contact sessions and got bumps to the head, just like them.
‘The one story in particular that got to me was hearing the wife of Alix Popham speaking about his problems and how dementia was affecting their family. I was heartbroken hearing her emotional story as I have a young family of my own. I have four girls and our youngest one is nine months in December, and I want to see my kids flourish and grow. It is so sad.
‘I would not get involved in a legal action like them as I am thankfully fine now and have no lasting symptoms from the head knocks I got playing rugby, but I am now wondering what could be round the corner after hearing their stories. Could it be coming my way?
‘If I had been diagnosed with early onset dementia like those three in their early 40s and felt it could be traced back to rugby, I can understand why they would get involved in a possible legal action.
‘If they are still suffering symptoms and can’t work to get money for their family and it is badly affecting their lives, which it clearly is, because of the head knocks they feel they got in rugby I can understand why they would look for financial compensation.
‘I would assume it will be a long drawn out action once legal proceedings are started. Questions will be asked about whether the players involved got good medical advice or not.
‘For instance did doctors tell them to stop playing and they ignored that advice? Were they encouraged to play on despite having concussions?
‘If they prove their cases, then rugby has to change what it does in many ways such as contact training exposure to the players.’
‘Whatever happens I wish all the best to all players who still suffer after getting numerous concussions in their playing days whether they are involved in this legal action or not and my best wishes go to the three players and their families who have said they are struggling.’
White — who won 77 Scotland caps between 2000 and 2009 — is putting his faith in education to change attitudes and practices across rugby, in particular.
Having just missed the Head Injury Assessment era, something he feels may have consequences as he advances in years, White believes the sport has taken great strides. With plenty more ground to cover.
Recalling the more free-and-uneasy approach taken when he was in his prime, the former Glasgow, Sale and Clermont forward told Sportsmail: ‘I probably did feel pressured by coaches. I’m not going to name names.
‘The words they used would be: “The team needs you”. That’s what they would say.
‘You hear that and automatically think: “I don’t want to let the team down”. So the coach saying the team needs me, I need to be there to do my bit.
‘The HIA has been a welcome advance. Even to the extent that someone watching can see if a player doesn’t look right. Having the power to take someone off the field and check them out is great.
‘Yes, I do have worries about later in life. It’s not something that plays on my mind a lot. But yes. Yes, I do.
‘There’s no history of dementia or Parkinson’s on my side of the family, at least not that I’m aware of.
‘ But I put myself i n harm’s way, knowingly and willingly. And I 100-per-cent would not change anything I did. But, yes, there are concerns there. When I was playing, there was a definite culture — which was as much me as anyone else — of wanting to get back on the pitch as quickly as possible.
‘You work so hard to get back in the team, you don’t want to let that go. You think: “Yeah, I was seeing stars for a wee bit, my legs were a bit wobbly. Give me the smelling salts”. The ammonia you would sniff, that would just jolt you back into where you were.
‘I didn’t know what was happening to my head. You had your bell rung, that was the phrase used a lot.’
White, who retired in 2012 after his spell in France with Clermont, has lent his name to a new video aimed at increasing awareness of the issue, joining veteran rugby doctor James Robson and Olympic gold medallist Katie Archibald in promoting better care of athletes.
He got involved through a friend of the family whose young son suffered a concussion with lasting effects.
In his day j ob at the renowned Musselburgh school Loretto, he’s pleased to see changing attitudes.
‘We’ve had one or two boys who have suffered concussion and now it’s about a return to education, that’s the priority, not return to play,’ said the 42-year-old.
‘I’ve learned through experience of being concussed and probably pushing myself to get back on the pitch when, with hindsight, that wasn’t the right decision.
‘Now in the role of working in education at Loretto, we’re working to improve education on football.
‘I’ve obviously seen a lot about older footballers being affected by dementia and then the debate in football about current players carrying on with head knocks.
‘The way to make games safer is to educate everyone involved in sport.
‘You can get concussed falling off your bike, playing at home with your mates. And you can see if somebody has a cut.
‘You can see a bad leg break. But it’s very hard to quantify an injury to the brain.
‘I had one big concussion playing for Scotland against Fiji in 2002. James Robson has done so many rugby matches that he probably wouldn’t remember this.
‘But James came on and, to be honest, the concussion testing wasn’t what it is now with the HIAs.
‘I think he asked me for a number between one and ten... and I said something like: “17”. I was talking rubbish.
‘It took me eight weeks to return. So imagining some of the current players who have had months off, or had their careers finished, I can’t compare.
‘For eight weeks I had headaches any time I exercised, sensitivity to light, I was irritable. But, looking at me, you wouldn’t know.
‘Sometimes the symptoms go away, sometimes they come back. I didn’t really understand it at the time. Hopefully players, coaches and everyone involved now has a better grasp on the situation.’