Mouthguards that light up to indicate that a player has sustained a significant head impact are to be used at the Women’s Rugby World Cup, officials announced on Monday.
Mouthguards would flash red if the impact is severe enough to potentially cause a concussion. The referee would stop play and the player would leave the field for a head injury assessment, officials said.
The aim is to introduce the system into all top-flight rugby.
Photo: Reuters
World Rugby chief medical officer Eanna Falvey, a doctor, said that every player at the Women’s World Cup, which is to start on Friday next week, would wear the mouthguards, apart from two who wear braces.
In the men’s game about 85 percent of players wear so-called “smart mouthguards,” which are not compulsory.
The mouthguards measure how much a player’s head moves and rotates in a collision. When it registers an acceleration above a set limit, it flashes.
World Rugby data indicate that while concussion rates are similar in women’s and men’s rugby, “head acceleration” events are significantly less likely for female players.
World Rugby brought in the “instrumented mouthguard” at the women’s international tournament in 2023 before introducing it globally the following year.
Scotland hooker George Turner was the first elite male player to be taken off for a head injury assessment after his gumshield detected a potentially worrying head impact in a match against France in last year’s Six Nations.
Lindsay Starling, World Rugby’s science and medical manager, speaking alongside Falvey at a Twickenham news conference on Monday, said that the aim was to help players rather than merely accumulate information.
“The data set that has grown over the last year is huge,” Starling said. “So now it’s actually making sure that it doesn’t just become a data collection exercise, but we actually understand what that data means and then start putting things in place for players such that they are actually benefiting from the data that’s being collected.”
Mouthguards could help identify foul play, she said, but added: “What everybody needs to understand that, in the same way, a player can get concussed from a pretty small head impact, foul play [can take place] without registering anything substantial.”
The LED mouthguards are to be implemented in top-flight rugby next season, British media reported.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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