Rugby’s governing authorities are being urged to take “urgent preventative action” to protect players at all levels of the sport after new research suggests the game may have been safer in the pre-professional era.
The BRAIN study, published today, found that former elite rugby players who experienced three or more concussions during their career did not have worse cognitive function before the age of 75 than those who had experienced no, or just one or two, concussions.
The study found no overall group association between concussion history and worse cognitive function, but did find that 29 per cent of over 75s who had sustained three or more rugby-related concussions during their career had significantly worse cognitive function.
However, results from the BRAIN study – funded by The Drake Foundation, which worked with 146 former elite rugby players in England aged 50 and over, most of whom played in the pre-professional era – call into question whether safety standards in the sport have worsened since the game became professional.
Several retired players from the modern era have recently been diagnosed with early-onset neurodegenerative disease and likely Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
In addition, the neuroimaging results of the Drake Rugby Biomarker Study, published earlier this year, found that 23 per cent of current elite adult rugby players tested had abnormalities in brain structure, and half showed an unexpected change in brain volume.
The Foundation has also been vocal in its campaign to make recommendations around safety in rugby and football enforceable rules, and is now calling for further immediate emphasis on player welfare.
“These findings are broadly reassuring for players from the amateur era,” says Lauren Pulling, CEO of The Drake Foundation.
“However, given the findings of the Drake Rugby Biomarker Study and recent cases of early-onset brain disease in ex-players from the professional era, the new study results do call into question how long-term health might differ in players from the modern era.
“The evidence we have so far suggests that the sport may actually be travelling in the wrong direction in terms of player welfare and brain health.
“In addition to further research, we therefore also urge the sport’s governing bodies to review the modern game’s laws and protocols and take urgent, preventative action to universally reduce players’ exposure to head impacts both in matches and training.”
Additional research carried out this month on behalf of The Drake Foundation by Censuswide, via an online survey of 508 respondents in the UK who are involved in rugby union, found that 62 per cent of adults who either play amateur rugby or have a child who plays rugby are concerned about the long-term effects of the sport on their or their child’s brain health.
This figure rises to 73 per cent for parents who do not play the game themselves, but who have a child that does.
Over 60 per cent agree that rugby has become a more dangerous sport at all levels since it turned professional in 1995, whilst 66 per cent believe that rugby union would be safer if fundamental law changes were introduced to better reflect the way the sport was played in the pre-professional era.
James Drake, founder of The Drake Foundation, says: “As a passionate sports fan who loves rugby, I’ve witnessed first-hand the way the game has evolved since turning professional.
“In my view it’s a sport that has become ostensibly less safe for the players involved and my concerns are reflected by our research this month, which reveals 61 per cent of adults who either play the game or have children that do, are concerned about the sport’s long-term effect on brain health.
“A further two thirds of adults believe the sport could be made safer if law changes were introduced to return it to the game as it was played in the amateur era. The Drake Foundation is calling on rugby’s authorities to give this immediate consideration to protect the sport we love and the current and future generations who play it.”
The BRAIN study is the first to carry out detailed measurements of cognitive function in a large number of former players and to relate this to their concussion and playing history.
It was conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Queen Mary University of London and the Institute of Occupational Medicine with researchers from UCL and the University of Oxford, and with assistance from the Rugby Football Union (RFU).
It is also the first to include substantial numbers from the over-75 age-group. Previous studies which have focussed on younger players have found little or no association between concussions and reduced cognitive function.
