I loved making big hits in rugby but we need to know the risks

FROM the moment I first played rugby, aged seven, on the beach in the south of France, I fell in love with the controlled aggression it allowed. Where else was I going to be permitted to deliberately knock over my younger brother and not get into trouble?

The love of the game put my medical career on hold and took me to 400 first-class games for Richmond in both the amateur and professional era, proudly entering into battle with the brother I had knocked over with joy all those years ago.

But rugby has changed a great deal since then. The hits have got bigger and collisions more frequent, and concerns are frequently expressed about the game’s safety. As a doctor I’ve watched the sport I love develop and I’ve seen the high-profile injuries like everyone else. Recently I watched as Doddie Weir declared that he had been diagnosed with the rare disorder Motor Neurone Disease, after Joost van der Westhuizen’s death from it.

MND is a rare condition. So seeing two top players struck down with it, one after the other, was concerning. Both were star players during my time as a professional player. I played against Doddie in 1996 in a close-fought draw. He was immense.These cases led me to reach out to an international group of clinicians with extensive experience in the management of professional sportsmen from around the world.

IWANTED their opinion on whether they felt there was an association between the disease with repetitive head or neck trauma that occurred in contact sport and, furthermore, if by playing that type of sport at professional level increased any such risk.

The group from the US, Israel, South Africa, New Zealand and the UK discussed their views and the consensus was that a systematic review of all the scientific evidence available should be conducted to establish if any risk existed — and if so, to what extent.

The results of our review found that the risk of developing ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis as MND is also known, was eight times more common in professional athletes prone to concussive or neck trauma. It was a figure that shocked us all.

We are now imploring the medical community and sports governing bodies to commission longitudinal studies in this area so that we can better understand any preventative measures available.

I’m not for a second suggesting that people shouldn’t play contact sports. Given my time again, with the knowledge of the results of our research, I would still have played the game I loved. It was too much fun and the risks were worth taking. But it’s essential that, as a doctor, I do the research necessary to give everyone playing the sport as much information as possible and ensure that we are all aware of the risks and are doing everything possible to mitigate against them.