The Rugby Soccer Union (RFU) has a free mind take a look at out there to any retired elite English participant.
I might have gone if I felt any signs after my taking part in profession, however I by no means did.
Deep down, I felt that I had been protected and that I used to be going to be OK. As a scrum-half, I performed able that concerned the least quantity of contact.
The documentary was the explanation I went for a mind take a look at, however finally it was not nearly me as I wish to make it the norm for different former gamers to comply with.
My brother Tom, who I performed with throughout my skilled profession, is an ideal instance of somebody who ought to contemplate being examined, as he performed within the entrance row.
Mendacity below the MRI scanner and having my mind scanned introduced nerves I used to be not anticipating.
Regardless of the expansion and funding, there’s at all times a danger in taking part in a contact sport.
I used to be so glad to be calling my household to inform them that my outcomes had been clear.
If you end up residing your dream, you don’t are likely to take a step again from the game you’re keen on to think about how protected it truly is.
Having performed all this, rugby has surpassed my interpretation of how a lot is occurring.
The game actually is pioneering in the best way it’s making an attempt to take care of gamers and do as a lot analysis as potential.
It has additionally learnt from earlier errors when it comes to decreasing contact in coaching and enhancing the HIA protocol, which is just now too exhausting to cheat because the phrases are continually altering.
Going ahead, we should be taking a look at issues like decreasing the size of the season and additional cuts to the quantity of contact in coaching, and we may also at all times must tread rigorously between participant duty and security protocols.
Rugby, I really feel, is in a fair safer place than I believed, however with extra work to do.
