The international rugby federation announced on Monday the test during a women’s tournament, before their adoption, of “intelligent” mouthguards, which should make it possible to transmit alerts during a match in the event of a significant impact or violent jolt. in the head.
“World Rugby will evolve the Head Injury Assessment (HIA) protocol by incorporating alerts issued during the match using smart mouthguard technology, to show if a player has suffered a high level of shaking which could lead to injury,” the federation wrote in a press release.
“The new protocol and new technology will be tested during the WXV elite women’s tournament (a new international women’s competition, Editor’s note) from October, and will be integrated into the assessment of head injuries from January 2024 “, she continues. Testing will therefore begin at “WXV”, a “new international women’s rugby union competition designed to increase the competitiveness, reach and impact of elite women’s rugby” according to World Rugby, which will begin in October.
Concretely, the alerts are transmitted to an independent doctor in real time at the time of the match. World Rugby will invest two million euros in this new technology, developed by the American company Prevent Biometrics.
“This innovation is part of a broader set of changes recommended at World Rugby by its independent working group dedicated to concussions,” adds the federation. Among these recommendations, encouraging rugby players at all levels to wear a mouthguard and extending the period of unavailability of amateur players after a concussion to 21 days.
“The latest scientific studies and expert advice tell us one thing: the need to reduce the shaking that players experience on their heads at all levels of rugby. This is exactly what we are doing,” said World Rugby Chief Medical Officer Eanna Falvey, quoted in the press release. The issue of player health, and in particular that of concussions, has been increasingly present in recent years in rugby, and sport in general.
It is notably at the heart of the possible return to competition of the scrum half and captain of the XV of France Antoine Dupont for the quarter-final of the World Cup against South Africa on Sunday: victim of a violent shock to the head on September 21 against Namibia, Dupont had surgery the next day, and he obtained the green light from his surgeon on Monday to resume training, and therefore contact rugby.
