SRU LAUNCH STUDY INTO HEAD KNOCKS

SRU chief medical officer Dr James Robson has welcomed plans to introduce a season-long mouthguard technology trial to gauge the level of head knocks players experience. The cutting-edge scheme is part of attempts to ensure concussion is kept to a minimum, alongside new on-field laws aimed at reducing the danger — with world Rugby yesterday claiming that fullcontact training should be limited to just 15 minutes per week to avoid unnecessary injuries. The trial will measure and compare all aspects of head impact loads in a bid to enhance player welfare standards within the SRU’s high-performance programmes. From this month, the company HITIQ Technology will put a head impact sensor in the mouthguards used across selected scottish rugby programmes, with players from scotland men’s national team, scotland women, scotland sevens and Edinburgh Rugby all able to opt in to the study. The trial — the first of its kind involving a northern hemisphere Tier 1 rugby nation — will span the entirety of the 2021 autumn Nations series, 2022 six Nations and United Rugby Championship competition as well as the international sevens circuit. Dr Robson said: ‘In this trial, we aim to improve our understanding of impact loads on our players in both the training and match environments. we would hope this will further inform the debate around player load and welfare management going forwards.’ HITIQ Technology chief executive Mike Vegar said the study would give an improved understanding of concussion and contact in rugby. The trial findings will allow medics to accurately quantify head knock exposures across individual players, positions, time periods and drills. These insights can be used to identify, manage and adjust contact drills to reduce head impact exposures and ultimately enhance player wellbeing. The mouthguard itself is embedded with inertial sensor technology in order to quantify the head impacts and is individually calibrated for each player to ensure accurate data. world Rugby — who conducted a survey of almost 600 players across the men’s and women’s game — have advised all professional outfits to limit full-blown contact, also suggesting it is banned on Mondays and Fridays so players can recover fully from weekend matches. world Rugby chief executive alan gilpin added: ‘we believe that by moderating overall training load on an individualised basis, including contact in season, it is possible to enhance both injury-prevention and performance outcomes, which is good for players, coaches and fans.’