Rugby is often maligned in the press for its inevitable relationship with concussion, with numerous high-profile incidents only compounding the issue. If your reading is restricted to the newspapers, you’d be forgiven for thinking that a culture of denial is in place, however when you delve deeper, there are numerous examples of innovative and powerful research, all of which is already leading to law & policy changes. One leading light in the sport is the Rugby Football Union (RFU), who are actively conducting policy-informing research, and using this to shape the game in order to maximise player welfare. Steffan Griffin, of the BJSM, caught up with Dr Simon Kemp (CMO), Dr Matt Cross (Professional Rugby Medical Research Officer), and Dr Mike England (RFU’s Community Rugby Medical Director), who provide an insight into their work, which is not only shaping the way the game is played, but provides a fantastic blueprint for other sports to follow. This is Part 1: in the build up to the Berlin Consensus Conference.

Timeline:
01:15: Can you give us some insight into the scale of concussion in Rugby Union?

04:00: Are the rising rates due to increased incidence or due to people being more likely to recognise and report it nowadays?

06:45: What is the RFU’s general approach to the management of Concussion?

08:45: Can you tell us a little about the ‘recognise, remove, recover and return’ campaign?

14:00: So the aim is to remove as many concussed players from the pitch as soon as possible: what else is the RFU doing to try and ensure this?

19:15: you have published a number of papers in the BJSM – one of which showed a relationship between concussion and subsequent musculoskeletal injuries – could you please elaborate?

21:50: What does this mean about the return to sport following concussion? How could this influence practice?

Links
Evaluation of World Rugby's concussion management process: results from Rugby World Cup 2015 http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2016/09/01/bjsports-2016-096461.abstract

The accuracy and reproducibility of video assessment in the pitch-side management of concussion in elite rugby http://www.jsams.org/article/S1440-2440(16)30142-6/abstract

Professional Rugby Union players have a 60% greater risk of time loss injury after concussion: a 2-season prospective study of clinical outcomes http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2015/12/01/bjsports-2015-094982.full

BJSM Podcast with the Heath Brothers & Mike Evans: https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/23-5-hours-to-switch-behaviour?in=bmjpodcasts/sets/bjsm-1