THE rugby world was saddened and concerned when former Scotland scrum half Roy Laidlaw revealed he is suffering from dementia. Roy believes repeated head knocks, suffered during a career that included 47 international appearances, contributed to his condition. Until comparatively recently, head knocks and concussions were considered part and parcel of the game. I recall being knocked unconscious during a school rugby practice. When revived, I was allowed to play on and then cycle home. The teacher in charge didn’t bother to inform my parents of what had happened.

The incident didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for the sport. In later years I enjoyed my jousts with international and Lions’ players including “Mighty Mouse” McLauchlan, Sandy Carmichael and Gordon Brown. And therein lies the difference between the game then and now. Back then, the gap between international and club players wasn’t unbridgeable. Like us they were amateurs, training two or three times a week and playing on a Saturday. In contrast, present-day club players cannot compete with their professional counterparts. Daily training means they are fitter, faster and much, much bigger. Today’s professional three quarters are larger than most forwards of my vintage.

Roy Laidlaw’s condition demonstrates head injuries certainly occurred in the amateur days. However, the size and athleticism of today’s professional players has changed the way the game is played. It’s much more physical, with greater emphasis on close quarters tackling and impact. One worries about the long-term consequences of the daily battering on the bodies and heads of today’s professionals. Equally worrying is the way increased physicality has backwashed into club and even school rugby. The professional game is tightly regulated, with immediate medical assessment and removal of players who may have suffered head injuries.

At grassroots level, it’s more hit or miss. There are detailed guidelines that advise, “If in doubt, sit them out”, but there may be no one qualified to recognise a head injury or implement the guidance. I have watched grassroot games where it’s been down to teammates to spot a concussion; or not. Their diagnoses possibly influenced by reluctance to lose a player for the rest of the game. I remember being “treated” for a relatively serious injury by an opponent who reassured me, “Don’t worry, my father’s a vet.”

Risk can never be totally removed from a sport involving physical contact, but too often games have become a war of close-quarters attrition. There must be matches where players do nothing but tackle and never have the ball in hand. Where’s the joy in that? So, would I encourage a son or daughter to take up the game? Probably not.

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