Week in Week Out report on head injuries sustained in Rugby
The BBC Wales programme ‘Week In Week Out’
reported on Tuesday 27th July 2010 that the majority of
head injuries sustained by rugby players were going
unreported.
06 I 08 I 10
Having questioned 75
lower league players, the BBC found that only 20% of concussion
incidents were reported to officials despite the fact that the
Welsh Rugby Union instruct players to tell club officials if they
suffer from concussion.
It was clear from the
report that even if players are aware that they have suffered from
concussion, they avoid telling club officials for fear of not being
selected for the next game. The rules of the game state that if a
player suffers concussion, which can include symptoms of headaches,
memory loss and an inability to concentrate, then they should not
play for 3 weeks.
If players continue to
fail to report concussive injuries there is a danger that more and
more damage will be caused to the brain without players realising.
Professor Wood of Swansea University provided feedback on the
programme which understandably scared one amateur rugby player when
Professor Wood advised him that radiological images suggested that
he clearly had frontal lobe damage to his brain which had been
caused from numerous concussive head injuries. The player
thereafter questioned whether he should continue to play rugby
knowing what damage it was causing him.
Both the WRU and
International Rugby Board were concerned by the statistics gathered
by the BBC and reiterated that rugby players needed to take care of
themselves and be honest with themselves but agreed that they would
consider developing an education programme regarding
concussion.