- Macy's says employee hid up to $154 mn in costs over 3 years
- Germany fears outside hand in deadly Lithuania jet crash
- EU grocery shoppers 'fooled' by 'maze' of food labels: audit
- Awaiting Commerzbank, Italy's UniCredit bids for Italian rival
- Alonso jokes about playing return amid Leverkusen injury woes
- Stocks push higher on Trump's 'steady hand' for Treasury
- G7 ministers discuss ceasefire efforts in Mideast
- Bayern need to win all remaining Champions League games, says Kane
- Indian cricketer, 13, youngest to be sold in IPL history
- Romania braces for parliament vote after far right's poll upset
- France unveils new measures to combat violence against women
- Beating Man City eases pressure for Arsenal game: new Sporting coach
- Argentine court hears bid to end rape case against French rugby players
- Egypt says 17 missing after Red Sea tourist boat capsizes
- Stocks push higher on hopes for Trump's Treasury pick
- Dortmund boss calls for member vote on club's arms sponsorship deal
- Chanel family matriarch dies aged 99: company
- US boss Hayes says Chelsea stress made her 'unwell'
- Deadly cargo jet crash in Lithuania amid sabotage probes
- China's Ding beats 'nervous' Gukesh in world chess opener
- Man City can still do 'very good things' despite slump, says Guardiola
- 'After Mazan': France unveils new measures to combat violence against women
- Scholz named party's top candidate for German elections
- Flick says Barca must eliminate mistakes after stumble
- British business group hits out at Labour's tax hikes
- German Social Democrats name Scholz as top candidate for snap polls
- Fresh strikes, clashes in Lebanon after ceasefire calls
- Russia and Ukraine trade aerial attacks amid escalation fears
- Georgia parliament convenes amid legitimacy crisis
- Plastic pollution talks must not fail: UN environment chief
- Maximum term sought in French mass rape trial for husband who drugged wife
- Beeches thrive in France's Verdun in flight from climate change
- Deep divisions on display at plastic pollution treaty talks
- UAE names Uzbek suspects in Israeli rabbi's murder
- Indian author Ghosh wins top Dutch prize
- Real Madrid star Vinicius out of Liverpool clash with hamstring injury
- For Ceyda: A Turkish mum's fight for justice for murdered daughter
- Bestselling 'Woman of Substance' author Barbara Taylor Bradford dies aged 91
- Equity markets mostly on front foot, as bitcoin rally stutters
- Ukraine drones hit Russian oil energy facility: Kyiv source
- UN chief slams landmine threat after US decision to supply Ukraine
- Maximum term demanded in French rape trial for husband who drugged wife
- Salah feels 'more out than in' with no new Liverpool deal on table
- Pro-Russia candidate leads Romanian polls, PM out of the race
- Taiwan fighter jets to escort winning baseball team home
- Le Pen threatens to topple French government over budget
- DHL cargo plane crashes in Lithuania, killing one
- Le Pen meets PM as French government wobbles
- From serious car crash to IPL record for 'remarkable' Pant
- Equity markets mostly on front foot, bitcoin rally stutters
CMSC | 0.35% | 24.76 | $ | |
BCC | 6.65% | 154.03 | $ | |
JRI | 1.05% | 13.35 | $ | |
SCS | 3.91% | 13.81 | $ | |
BCE | 0.21% | 26.825 | $ | |
RIO | 0.9% | 62.915 | $ | |
RBGPF | -1.6% | 59.24 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.37% | 24.55 | $ | |
BP | -1.47% | 29.29 | $ | |
GSK | 0.67% | 34.188 | $ | |
AZN | 0.62% | 66.04 | $ | |
VOD | 1.63% | 8.875 | $ | |
BTI | 0.25% | 37.475 | $ | |
RELX | -0.57% | 46.485 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.74% | 6.75 | $ | |
NGG | 0.07% | 63.155 | $ |
Popham hopes new World Rugby chairman heralds new dawn in concussion issue
Former Wales flanker Alix Popham has told AFP he hopes the new chairman of World Rugby will push for the changes required to prevent players from suffering the long-term effects of successive head injuries, as he has done.
Bill Beaumont steps down as chairman on Thursday after eight years and Popham is scathing about the changes made during the Englishman's tenure, calling them "smoke and mirrors".
The issue is highly sensitive for World Rugby, which says the sport "remains at the forefront of managing concussion and reducing head impacts in general".
Popham, who won 33 caps between 2003 and 2008 and played in two World Cups, was diagnosed in 2020 with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy at the age of 40.
CTE is a progressive brain condition that is thought to be caused by repeated blows to the head and episodes of concussion.
Popham is one of a group of former internationals pursuing legal action against World Rugby, England's Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union.
"The measures basically put in place since we went public are a lot of smoke and mirrors," he told AFP in a phone interview.
He said the positive effect of the legal action is that "it has highlighted the problem".
"But the changes that need to be made are not being made."
One of the measures that has been tried are 'smart' mouthguards, which are used to identify players that need to be assessed, although the concussion diagnosis is made by a doctor.
Brett Robinson, an Australian who is one of three candidates bidding to succeed Beaumont, told New Zealand newspaper The Post in August that World Rugby will invest £40 million ($51 million) in player welfare in the next few years.
That will include paying for instrumented mouthguards in every competition in the world.
Popham said "if we are looking in the mirror, we are not being 100 percent honest on real issues here". He added: "Some big, big changes need to be brought in."
He would like to see "rest periods after head injury, regular MOTs, annual tests for players and tests to pick up on any brain damage from the week before."
- 'Being honest' -
He would also like rugby to emulate the National Football League in the US when it comes to contact in training.
Popham said in his day training at Welsh club Scarlets and Brive in France was like 'the Wild West", recalling how players who wanted his place "were hitting seven bells out of you".
"It should not just be guidelines but the amount of contact should be mandatory and policed," he said.
"Most damage done in a player's career is in training so that needs to be in place like the NFL did 14 years ago."
Popham, who along with his wife Mel founded the charity Head For Change, said being frank with all those involved in the sport would be a step in the right direction.
"It is about being honest with players, coaches, mums, dads, and teachers that every contact is causing some sort of brain damage," he said.
"For a player who has been KO'd having a traumatic brain injury and return seven days later is absolutely criminal, when a boxer is given three months off, this needs to be changed."
Although at elite level some players do return after seven days, those who have a "criteria one event", showing clear and obvious symptoms at the time of the incident, or those who have a history of concussion, are stood down for a minimum of 12 days.
Even then they have to be cleared by an independent concussion consultant.
In a statement to AFP, World Rugby said due to the ongoing legal action they could not "engage with Alix directly" and were" saddened to hear the story of any former rugby player who is struggling."
"Rugby remains at the forefront of managing concussion and reducing head impacts in general," they said, highlighting initiatives such as the "smart mouthguards" and "trials of a lower legal tackle height in the community game".
Popham, who says his wife now "acts as his memory", believes the next five years will be critical for the sport.
"I have spoken to lots of mums and dads who won't be sending their kids to practice because of what is currently going on," he said.
"Until those changes are made, until the age of contact is increased (from nine) and safety measures put in place, who would send their kids to rugby?"
F.Pavlenko--BTB