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'Stupid way to behave': Ex-Ireland player's shock concussion claim

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Julien Behal/PA Images via Getty Images)

Ex-Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman has admitted he suffered approximately 25 concussions during his final year as a player, the majority of which he didn’t declare to his Leinster team doctor. Capped nine times by Ireland, the now 46-year-old Jackman was in the twilight of his career in the 2009/10 season – his last a pro – and he has now detailed the struggle he had trying to disguise concussion and manage the headaches it caused. 

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Jackman, who went on to coach at Grenoble and Dragons before returning to Dublin, is now a Sunday Independent columnist and the latest piece by the former Ireland front-rower has shone a jaw-dropping light on his final campaign at Leinster. 

“In my last season as a player, my susceptibility to concussion increased massively,” he wrote. “The previous season I had noticed that it was taking less contact to give me a blinding migraine or dizziness but it wasn’t something I ever considered would make me miss a match or even a training session. Back then, there was still a bit of an old-school attitude in the dressing room to concussion and it was rarely seen as a serious injury among us players.

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“Unfortunately, during my last season, my ability to play or sometimes train without concussion-like sensations was next to non-existent. Even warming up and hitting a tackle bag was often giving me a blinding headache – or I would temporarily lose my balance, or have a seeing-the-stars-like feeling. 

“My tolerance for contact was so low that it felt as though I could have been concussed in a pillow fight. I think I got around 25 concussions in that last season. The vast majority of these I kept to myself and didn’t declare to our team doctor, which was naive and stupid of me. With hindsight, I was lucky I lost my place as the first-choice hooker and I went from having started 19 matches the previous two seasons to just eight in my last.”

Weekly live scrummaging at training, though, remained a huge issue. “I would pop some pain killers on the walk to the pitch and knew that first hit would send a pain so sharp into the back of my head that I was just trying to get them finished and hope it was one of those migraines that didn’t hang around for long.”

As for the headaches, he developed a habit of buying time to try and get himself right. “The problem was that the more concussions I got, the less spooked or worried I was by them. I knew I just needed to buy myself time. 

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“In a match, a lost contact lens (popped out by me), faking being winded, or a non-existent shoulder injury were all used to get the physio onto the field to buy myself enough time to get my balance back and play on. I know… madness… a stupid way to behave.

It was two years ago when Jackman received an email from Rylands, the London-based law firm taking a concussion lawsuit against World Rugby and other governing bodies on behalf of ex-players. He had a phone chat with them but didn’t join that legal action or any other case. 

“In relation to my concussions, I have had no sign of any lasting brain damage since I retired. I know that I, along with other current or former players, can’t predict the future, but I look back on my playing days with fondness… Every time I hear about another player I do worry about my own brain health, to be honest, but I’m good at the moment and so I try not to think about it and keep looking forward.”

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