After just one season of rugby players Head impact study says' cognitive function can decline
The University of South Wales research followed a professional rugby team over the course of a season, testing players pre-season, mid-season and post-season. It will be published in Wednesday's September edition of the Journal of Experimental Physiology.
Researchers followed a team playing in the United Rugby Championship. 3They say more research is needed on the long-term effects.
Their study, seen exclusively by the, has found that over just one season, a team of professional rugby players saw a decline in blood flow to the brain and cognitive function, the ability to reason, remember, formulate ideas and perform mental gymnastics.
The paper also suggests that rather than only concussions, repetitive contacts, or sub concussions, sustained through rugby have caused the declines seen in the players.
Former Lions and Wales player Shane Williams suffered head injuries himself while playing and says the risk of a player getting injured increases when they are tired. He has joined calls for a limit on replacements because fresher players coming on to the pitch could cause more damage.
This new study comes as 200 former players Welsh and English, male and female, professional and amateur, have begun legal action in tandem with Rylands Law firm, against the game's governing bodies World Rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union and Rugby Football Union.
Some of those former players have been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, and they claim the authorities failed to protect them from the risk caused by concussions and head impacts.World Rugby says it welcomes new research, adding: "World Rugby recently committed to double our investment in player welfare and new concussion research and initiatives.
"Former Wales winger Williams took some big hits and head impacts that affected him in his career, none more so than in a thumping but a legal tackle by South Africa's Bakkies Botha in 2004."It wasn't until I got back to the hotel several hours later that I realised I wasn't very well," ."That was one of the biggest hits I've ever taken, really, I think.
"It was a blur getting changed afterwards - seeing the players, seeing family members in the stadium afterwards, I don't remember - it was almost like I'd blacked out for a couple of hours, and the next thing I'm in the hotel again sat in the reception thinking: 'Gosh what happened there?'"
When considering the impacts he's taken over the years, Williams has questioned whether his brain has been affected by the game.
"I'm always questioning: Has my memory deteriorated because of my age? I'm forever writing things down anyway - is that because of my age? Or is it because I've taken hits over the years?" he said.
Head Injury Assessments, or HIA protocols, which now are commonplace on the field of play and are there to help decipher whether a player has had a concussion, did not come into force until 2015.
Williams feels if the same incident in 2004 happened, he would have taken himself off the field, knowing what he now knows.
"I think a big part of it is education - if I'd have been hit like that today, I'd have known straight away that something wasn't right," he said.
"People still ask, 'would I have changed the way I played, would I have not played?' I wouldn't have because I played a game that I absolutely loved."
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