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and neurological assessments at the start and end of the rugby season, paired with real-time collision data collected through high-tech mouthguards worn by players. Instrumented or ‘smart’ mouthguards are increasingly being used in professional rugby. The latest models are equipped with a gyroscope, accelerometers, and Bluetooth, to show in near real-time the head acceleration events a player experiences during training and games. Nick started collecting data from an under-16 male team from clubs in the Ellesmere Rugby Sub-Union, and extended the research two years ago, with Neurological Foundation funding, to under-18 female teams from Christchurch Girls’ High School and Prebbleton Rugby Club in Selwyn, Canterbury. That gave data on the total load and exposure of players to collisions across the season, not just from concussions, but from the often-overlooked subconcussive impacts that occur with every tackle, ruck, and scrum. “Looking at concussion in a laboratory is not the same as a player on a field,” says Nick, particularly for ‘brain strain’ – the effect on the brain and brain tissue from each collision. One of Nick’s postdoctoral researchers has begun building the team’s first prototype headgear units. “There's still a lot more work to be done though. To properly understand the cumulative effect of collisions on the young person's brain we need to collect data with the same cohort over a number of seasons.” Nick, who also coaches junior rugby and judo, says an important aspect of the research is looking at the tackle and how it is coached. “We are getting a clearer understanding of what a good tackle is and what isn’t in terms of injury risk. “Coaching players to fall well is a vital skill. It helps with tackling technique, and reduces any anxiety players might have about being tackled,” he says, adding that learning to fall well should be taught to junior rugby players as early as eight years old (when tackling starts), or even earlier. “Given that up to 80% of rugby players are juniors, having the option to wear research-informed, effective headgear could have a real impact on protecting young people from injury. And it’s really nice that it's coming out of New Zealand.” Nick’s research team, which includes researchers from universities across New Zealand, have now secured over $1m in funding to continue their research. "..having the option to wear research-informed, effective headgear could have a real impact on protecting young people from injury." Professor Nick Draper Headlines 9