Alix Popham hopes new World Rugby chairman heralds new dawn in concussion issue
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A rugby international match between England and Australia.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DUBLIN – Former Wales flanker Alix Popham 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 Nov 14 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 (CTE) 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 said, adding that 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, 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 (S$68.3 million) in player welfare in the next few years.
That will include paying for instrumented mouthguards in every competition in the world.
Popham reiterated: “Some big, big changes need to be brought in.”
He would like to see “rest periods after head injury, annual tests for players and tests to pick up on any brain damage from the week before”.
He would also like rugby to emulate the National Football League (NFL) in the United States 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.”
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”.
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 safety measures put in place, who would send their kids to rugby?” AFP
