'Friends I played with are really struggling' - De Luca on rugby's mental health problem

Former Scottish international Nick DeLuca says many professional rugby players he played alongside are struggling with mental health concerns and that more needs to be done within the game to combat the condition.

“Friends that played with me in the Scotland team are really struggling just now, and there’s nothing being said or done to assist those people.” De Luca told BBC Sport Scotland.

"Friends that played with me in the Scotland team are really struggling just now, and there's nothing being said or done to assist those people." – Nick De Luca on the issue of mental health in rugby: https://t.co/onSWCEQyhO pic.twitter.com/000QH2mFBN

— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) January 5, 2018

“There has been coverage recently of the number of professional footballers suffering from mental illness – the same is true of rugby, it’s just not really talked about.”

De Luca said that such was the abuse he suffered online as a result of his performances he decided to delete his Twitter account.

“I’m lucky that I’ve never had a mental illness, but I have had poor mental health and there are plenty of us [in professional rugby],” De Luca said.

“I’ve struggled to go to work and enjoy my job for Scotland or Edinburgh, and that was due to not having the knowledge or support around me.

“Little things like throwaway comments, or even the way journalists write about you or rate you can really have a detrimental effect.

“I didn’t enjoy Edinburgh for a long time because of relationships with coaches, and the same with Scotland.

“There are people who play for Scotland now who have wanted to give up. It’s just such a tough environment that you don’t want to put yourself back out there again, you don’t want to keep going.

“I won’t name names but I have a friend who wanted to quit, and we managed to get round him – his family, his friends – to get him back in, and since then he’s had an incredible purple patch. I’m so glad that he didn’t walk away, because it’d have been the biggest regret of his life.”

DeLuca won over 40 caps for Scotland, making his debut in 2008 at the Six Nations Tournament against France. He played for Edinburgh, Wasps, Biarritz Olympique and Border Reivers during his career.

Awareness around mental health in rugby is on the increase, with the RPA’s ‘Lift the Weight’ one of a number of enterprises aimed at highlighting mental health issues among rugby players.