One school believes that the legal action brought by nearly 200 players against World Rugby will financially cripple the game.
That’s the short-term view of the concussion epidemic that has engulfed rugby, but while its main priority is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its players, they also seek to protect the game they love.
Adam Hughes is a former professional player, who played for Exeter Chiefs and Welsh club Dragons before retiring in 2018. The Welshman is one of the nearly 200 players to take legal action against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union.
Hughes is well qualified to talk about the dangers of repeated blows to the head. He has been advised by medical professionals that he is on the same trajectory as Alix Popham, Michael Lipman and Steve Thompson, all of whom have traumatic brain injuries, incipient dementia and probable CTE.
In an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport, World Rugby chief Alan Gilpin strikes out the ostensibly targeted use of the media to recruit new complainants, while also claiming that those affected should contact the governing body rather than take legal action. But while making the game safer is his priority, Hughes believes World Rugby should realize that these legal proceedings are also aimed at giving the sport a meaningful future.
“We’re not a bunch of guys who want the game to go away,” said the 32-year-old. “We all love rugby and really enjoy watching it. There is certainly no vendetta here.
“I really feel the game is at a crossroads and rugby really needs to take the right turn. What these ex-players are doing is creating a future for the game.
“With more former players being diagnosed with terrible conditions like incipient dementia, parents will keep their kids away from the game. This is something World Rugby needs to wake up to as it would really paralyze the game.
“I played at a professional level and whistled at a grassroots level. I’ve seen the rot and the problem with lower tier participation with first and second team rugby.
“Hopefully, with all this media attention around the health risks of concussions and head-butts, World Rugby will start making meaningful changes in the long term, but as it stands, they haven’t done so.”
‘There are games where I can’t remember what happened’
Hughes has suffered the effects of a concussion since his retirement and has openly admitted that he was unable to remember certain parts of his career due to the constant punches he received on the playing field.
Part of Gilpin’s interview that really annoyed Hughes was his claim that community game headbutts aren’t “comparable” to those of professional players.
Concussion lobby group Progressive Rugby recently published a seven-point plan to limit brain injuries, including a non-negotiable blanket of at least 21 days after a brain injury, regardless of the player’s concussion history, but Gilpin favors an individualized return-to-play protocol.
Hughes favors the approach of Progressive Rugby. “Given the way the game is now and the number of players coming out, I see no harm in World Rugby being more risk averse,” he said.
“To me that seems like the most obvious and safest way to go about things now that we’re reassessing and learning more about concussion. Why don’t we give caution to begin with, and you can always bring back one player at a time in the future.” as we learn and understand more about it.
“For now, I think being careful is in everyone’s best interest, but also in the game in general. The biggest concern about head injuries is that it’s almost a point of no return.
“There are certain games where I can’t remember what happened, so I really think they need to be a lot more careful because there’s a lot at stake.”
Last month, former Wales captain Ryan Jones revealed he had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia at the age of 41, following in the footsteps of former England internationals Thompson and Lipman and ex-Wales international Alix Popham.