Concussions in England's professional rugby union are the most common injury received. Concussion can occur where an individual experiences an impact to the head, and commonly occurs in high-contact sporting activities, including American football, boxing, MMA and the rugby codes. It can also occur in recreational activities like horse riding, jumping, cycling, and skiing. The reason is that it doesn't have to be something to strike you in the proximity of the brain, but can also be caused by rapid change of movement, giving the skull not enough time to move with the body, causing the brain to press against the skull. With rugby being such a contact and fast moving sport, it is no wonder why there is concussion and other head injuries occurring. With the development of equipment and training methods, these will help benefit the players on the field know what could happen and how they can help with preventing it.
History of concussions
A concussion, which is known as a subset of traumatic brain injury (TBI), is when a force comes in contact with the head, neck or face, or fast movement of the head, causing a functional injury to the brain. The severity of any injury depends on the location & strength of the impact. It is short-lived impairment of neurological function, the brains ability to process information, which can be resolved in seven to ten days. Not all concussion involves the loss of consciousness, with it occurring in less than 10% of concussions. Second-impact syndrome is when a player has obtained a second concussion when you either return to field the same day, or return to play before a complete recovery from a previous concussion. This is a result from brain swelling, from vascular congestion and increased intracranial pressure, this can be fatal to a player as it is a very difficult medical injury to control. The brain is surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid, which protects it from light trauma. More severe impacts, or the forces associated with rapid acceleration, may not be absorbed by this cushion. Concussion may be caused by impact forces, in which the head strikes or is struck by something, or impulsive forces, in which the head moves without itself being subject to blunt trauma (for example, when the chest hits something and the head snaps forward). Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or "CTE", is an example of the cumulative damage that can occur as the result of multiple concussions or less severe blows to the head. The condition was previously referred to as "dementia pugilistica", or "punch drunk" syndrome, as it was first noted in boxers. The disease can lead to cognitive and physical handicaps such as parkinsonism, speech and memory problems, slowed mental processing, tremor, depression, and inappropriate behavior. It shares features with Alzheimer's disease.
In a 2013 interview, recently retired Scotland international Rory Lamont was critical of the then-current protocols for handling concussions, notably the Pitchside Suspected Concussion Assessment (PSCA) employed at that time::
Connection with rugby union
Rugby union has been played since the early 19th century. Being a high contact sport it has the highest announced rates of concussions and outside England also has the highest number of catastrophic injuries out of any team sport. Research finding that during match play, concussion was reported at a higher level, and during training at a lower level, but still at a higher level than most players of another sport to receive. With the game being both physically and mentally demanding, it varies from being at high intensities of sprinting, tackling and rucking, with small intensities of jogging and walking. The position of the forwards consists of them having to have a lot of physical strength to get the ball from the other team, or create gaps for their team to run through. Where as the backs are the players that make the play happen, making runs with the ball, with the protection of the forwards stopping attacks, the backs still do get tackled like any other player on the field, so they have to have physical strength as much as a forward. The Concussion bin was replaced by the head bin in 2012 with the players assessment taking 10 minutes.
About a quarter of rugby players are injured in each season.
In the US, college rugby has much higher injury rates than college football. Rugby union has similar injury types to American football but with more common injuries of arms.