Player safety always paramount says Rugby Canada following recent death

The death of Montague, P.E.I., studentBrodieMcCarthy has ignited discussion about headinjuries in rugby.

The Grade 12 student was just weeks from graduating when he was playing in the David Voye Memorial rugby tournament in Summersidelast week. He sustained a head injuryin whathas been described as "a normal rugby play," though he collapsed shortly afterwards and later died after surgery inhospital in Moncton.

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Paul Hunter, the manager of national coach development with Rugby Canada, told CBCNews although deaths in sport area "rare occurrence," it's important to ensure that therisk of fatal injuries are as minimal as possible.

"We need to have a joint approach, as parents, players, sports organizations, schools and match officials. We all have a responsibility that our players play in a safe environment," he said.

We don't think that concussion education and player welfare is something you should do once. Paul Hunter

Part of minimizing those risks, he said, is through proper concussion training. It's mandatory for all club-level coaches and referees to complete a concussion management program annually. Although Rugby Canada doesn't have authorityover schools.

"We work closely with our school boards through our provincial unions but we are not able to mandate training and education for high schools," he said.

Head injuries in rugby

The online trainingprovidedby Rugby Canada provides information onwhat a concussion is, signs and symptoms,principles aroundremoval from the game andthe gradual return to play process.

"The data tells us that we do not have as many head injuries in rugby as perhaps hockey and football," Hunter said.

According to data from theCanadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program, onthe federal government's website,between2012-2014playersaged 15-19 sustained 449 brain injuries playing rugby.

Among boys 15-19, the data showedrugby hadthe third highest number of brain injuriesbehind ice hockey and football. For girls the same age, rugby had the fourth highest number of brain injuries, behind soccer, basketball and hockey.

Would wearing helmetsor scrum caps help?

Not necessarily, Hunter said.

"We have not yet been presented, or found evidence to suggest that head gear can prevent concussions," he said.

Sports that have head gear still have concussion related injuries."

The danger in introducing helmets to a sport, Hunter said, is thatin other sportswhen young kids put helmets on they mightthink they're "a little bit more invincible" and would do things with their head that they wouldn't necessarily do if they didn't have a helmet.

Rugby already has a thin form of head protection called a scrum cap a thin, padded head cap that straps under the chin but it isn'tdesigned to prevent concussions, Hunter said.

Rather, thecaps areprimarily for protection against head cuts andcauliflowerear.

"There's no evidence to suggest a scrum cap would prevent concussion-related injuries," Hunter said. "Any player can wear a scrum cap, it's an improved piece of clothing, but it's not one that's mandated to be worn."

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Hunter said Rugby Canada also teachesthe fiveareas of contact inrugby. They includethe tackle, ruck, maul, scrum and line out. He said the training alsoprovides examples of how these areas should be coachedand managed safely.

Education is available

No sport comesrisk-free, and whenchildren show an interest in sport, Hunter said, parents should askquestions about how particular clubs and schools approach player safety.

"Parents should be asking 'what do you do to minimize risk in your sport?' Questions should be asked around what do clubs and schools do when it comes to concussion management," he said.

"Clubs and schools and sports, we need to be able to answer these questions. We need to produce evidence to show that we are minimizing risk, that we have initiatives in place, which Rugby Canada has."

One of those initiatives, Hunter said, is Rugby Canada's player-welfare program, called PlaySmart, that launched in2016.

He said PlaySmart is a "one-stop shop" website for parents, coaches, players and morethat provides informationon concussion management, positive coaching, drug awareness and more.

"We don't think that concussion education and player welfare is something you should do once, in part,it's a life-long learning opportunity."

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