Our commitment
Our unwavering dedication to brain injury prevention drives us to continuously implement evidence-based strategies and make a positive impact on the wellbeing of our rugby community. Through education, research, protocols, and collaboration, we proactively address concussion risks and support our players' long-term health.
Concussion and Brain Health Plan
The importance of brain health in rugby
Concussion and the potential consequences of Head Acceleration Events (HAE) are major concerns in modern rugby and other contact sports. By managing concussion risks and supporting brain health, we can improve the overall health of the game and its players.
Managing injury risks
Managing injury risks in rugby doesn't mean eliminating all injuries. Instead, it means that everyone involved should:
- Be aware of the risks
- Take all reasonable steps to identify and eliminate risks of serious harm
- Minimize risks when they can't be completely eliminated
Serious harm includes injuries that result in:
- Fatalities
- Permanent disabilities
- Development of neurodegenerative conditions
Our approach to uncertain evidence
When the evidence isn't clear, we take a cautious approach. We:
- Communicate our understanding of the risks to players on an ongoing basis
- Base our actions on science and research as we learn more
- Consider differences between:
- Men's and women's games
- Professional and community rugby
- 15s and 7s formats
How we improve injury prevention
We use a 'continuous cycle of improvement' to prevent injuries in rugby:
- Research to understand injury issues and their importance
- Put interventions in place to reduce injuries
- Monitor the outcomes to see if the interventions are working
This approach is used by both World Rugby and New Zealand Rugby (NZR) for injury prevention.
World Rugby's action plan
In July 2021, World Rugby, the sport's governing body, released an action plan for player welfare. It focuses on six main areas:
- Supporting former players
- Using science and research to drive innovation
- Reviewing and improving game laws to protect players
- Focusing on the women's game
- Investing in education
- Engaging openly with the rugby community
These efforts aim to make rugby safer and more enjoyable for everyone involved.
Advancing player safety and health
Rugby is a contact sport, which means injuries can happen. Despite this, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis play and enjoy playing the game. At New Zealand Rugby, we are dedicated to reducing injury risks, especially head injuries and concussion.
NZR supports initiatives like evolving rugby laws and tackle heights to reduce injury, training coaches to teach players safer techniques, ensuring that people know how to spot concussion and how to manage it, and allowing referees to issue blue cards after suspected concussions.
More recently, we have been supporting independent research into understanding the long-term risks and benefits associated with playing rugby. This research looks at brain health and the connection between repetitive impacts and conditions such as dementia.
We are committed to:
- Supporting quality research into rugby and long-term brain health and sharing independent research results
- Implementing safety changes based on the latest data and evidence
- Training coaches to recognise and manage concussion
- Providing players and their whanau education around prevention and management of head injuries.
Note: Safety initiatives are making serious injuries in rugby increasingly rare.