Head cases on the rise

07 October 2016 - 10:52 By GAVIN MAIRS

Lewis Moody, the former England captain, believes there is going to be a significant rise in the number of reported concussions in rugby union. His comment followed news that Saracens lock Alistair Hargreaves would be the second professional player in a week to retire because of a brain injury.Hargreaves, the former Saracens captain, confirmed that at the age of just 30, he would retire on medical advice, after being concussed a number of times in the past two seasons.Hargreaves's news followed a week after Connacht and Ireland prop Nathan White had to retire because of a concussion injury he suffered last March.The retirement of Hargreaves and White follows the decision by former players Cillian Willis and Jamie Cudmore to take legal action against their former clubs for alleged medical negligence in the handling of their respective concussion injuries.Willis confirmed in August that he would take legal action against Sale Sharks as a result of an injury in an LV Cup game against Saracens in 2013, while Cudmore claims Clermont Auvergne's team doctors allowed him back on the field with a serious head injury against Saracens in the 2015 Champions Cup semifinal.Moody, an ambassador for the Headway Concussion Aware campaign for grassroots sports, said he hoped rugby did not follow in the footsteps of the US National Football League, which agreed to a R10.5-billion settlement in 2013 with ex-players suffering from dementia.The former Leicester, England and Lions flank, who was also concussed several times in his career, feels greater awareness of, and medical knowledge about, the injury and its treatment will result in a spike in reported cases.The latest professional rugby injury Surveillance project, conducted by the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players' Association found that, in 2014-15, concussion was the most reported injury for the fourth season in a row and made up about 17% of all injuries. - ©The Daily Telegraph..

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