Reaction to uncomfortable truth about concussion in women's rugby shows hope for the game
Last week, I wrote about ongoing research from Dr Elisabeth Williams at Swansea University, which found that concussion is likely a much bigger issue in women’s rugby than men’s. The reaction was wholly positive: parents asking what they can do to help prevent their daughters from suffering concussions, players supporting the research, and lots of other journalists picking the story up. I was able to talk about my experience with brain injuries from rugby on three BBC Radio shows. The conversation about concussion in women’s rugby became a central discussion point.
In all honesty, I felt some guilt that even talking about concussion in the women’s game may be doing a disservice to the sport. It’s hard to strike the balance between telling people rugby is great, but it also could cause long-term damage to your body and brain. But the last week has shown that head injuries are being taken seriously at the elite level of women’s rugby, at least.
Bristol Bears Women revealed to The Telegraph that they are using gum shields with sensors in them to track head impacts during rugby training and matches. They are the first elite women’s side to use these gumshields, which are also being used by men’s sides Harlequins, Gloucester, and Leicester Tigers. Bristol Bears player and Wales captain Siwan Lillicrap told Kate Rowan: “As a player it gives you that reassurance that when you have had a big collision, you will find out the impact of that… as a player, it gives you that security over what you have experienced and felt in a game. It gives you more confidence, which is a real positive.” Lillicrap is also Head of Rugby at Swansea University, where Dr Williams’ concussion research is based. The Wales captain will understand the value of this research more than many, having seen the results of Dr Williams’ research using gumshields with sensors in the university’s men’s and women’s teams last year. According to The Telegraph, the cost of the gumshields Bristol use is about £1,000 per player per year. I wonder if these will soon be mandatory for all elite players.
Last week also saw the brain injury association Headway call for more research to be done to see if women are more susceptible to concussion than men. Headway’s Deputy Chief Executive Luke Griggs suggested that this could be because women are better at reporting concussions than men. Griggs told BBC Sport: “If it is the case that women are better at reporting this, are more honest, less prone to taking chances on their health, then it’s up to males to step up and actually learn from this and improve their behaviours so they are taking fewer chances.”
While this may well be true, it’s also clear from Dr Williams’ research that the whiplash motion some women make in tackles is a pretty good indicator for why concussion is more likely in the women’s game.
Since writing last week’s column, I’ve heard a few distressing anecdotes about brain injury that match my own experience. One woman told me that she suffered a concussion playing rugby on a Sunday but had to work the following day. She told her manager that she couldn’t work due to her concussion, but her manager said that it was a self-inflicted injury, and therefore she had to come into work. There were a few other similar stories: mums who had no rest time, women sacked for being refused time off with a concussion, and even a woman who was turned away from A&E with a packet of paracetamol who later collapsed as a result of a brain injury. These are all grassroots players, and that’s where my concern still lies.
Maggie Alphonsi, England rugby legend, wrote this week about how the rewards of playing rugby far outweigh the risks for her. She spoke about one terrible concussion she suffered and how she changed her head position on the pitch to avoid receiving concussions. For Alphonsi, rugby stopped her going down a different path in life. I entirely understand the benefits of rugby to young people. For some, it teaches respect, offers them a community they don’t have access to, and shows them that they can be a great player no matter their size. One thing I have recognised this week, from the reactions to the concussion piece and with news of harsher lockdowns, is that we cannot underestimate the positive impact rugby can have on lives.
EXCLUSIVE: New research shows women rugby players are more susceptible to concussion, brain damage and potentially CTE than their male counterparts. @_JessHayden ??? with a difficult but important story for the sport. https://t.co/jsBaIInY3q
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 14, 2020
I’ve seen replies to Alphonsi’s column that say the benefits do not outweigh having early onset dementia at forty. In reality, it’s not a black and white decision, is it? It’s not like anybody decides they wants to sacrifice their brain health for rugby. We know there are risks. Every club has an older member who props up the bar and will tell anyone in earshot of the terrible injury that snuffed them at the peak of their career. We have also heard of spinal injuries, broken necks, paralysation. There are risks we all take when we put our boots on.
The difference with this risk is that it feels like the gravity of it has been kept from us. There’s a personal responsibility involved of course; we need to educate ourselves about these risks. But there is a responsibility on the governing bodies too. If there has been any communication with grassroots clubs to reassure them about the latest findings, then I have missed it. All I’ve heard from the RFU is that they take player welfare “very seriously.” It wasn’t until I spoke to Dr Williams that I truly understood the higher risk women’s players face with concussion.
? “I was in a wheelchair because I couldn’t walk, the damage to my brain was that bad”@_JessHayden has suffered two brain injuries from playing amateur rugby, she tells @NickyAACampbell we need to better understand concussion in women#5LiveBreakfast
? @BBCSounds pic.twitter.com/7PTeqAu71I— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) December 16, 2020
I am an RFU first aider (which you could be too, if you have a day to spare and want to spend it in a freezing cold rugby club in East London) and the course covered concussion symptoms in adults and children, but didn’t teach anything about the impact of neck strength, or importance of head control, despite the RFU clearly knowing this at the time. The England women’s team has been aware of the need to build neck strength for years and have incorporated this into their training since 2014 for this reason, according to a senior England player.
Last week, I spoke about my own brain injuries and how I was seriously considering if I’ll play again. I feel more positive now, and that’s because we are talking about brain injuries more openly. I will never again be pressured to play on, I’ll recognise concussion symptoms in others as well as myself, and I’ll keep learning. I’ll strengthen my neck and I won’t go straight back to playing matches. After the pandemic, I’ll build my training load up strengthen my lower body to make sure my body position in tackles is as safe as it can be. Let’s keep the conversation moving, too. We need to keep talking about brain injuries to make sure everyone is aware of the risks and what to do if they sustain one.
Comments on RugbyPass
Exeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
34 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
34 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
7 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
34 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
7 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
7 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
11 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
11 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
11 Go to comments