Seeing Stars

Rugby is an extremely competitive and physically demanding team sport. Professional rugby players train for months and subject their bodies to harsh physical training—resulting in injuries both in matches against other teams and during training where severe injuries also happen. These injuries not only happen to the elite players of professional rugby but can also happen to the average or recreational rugby player.

The top five common injuries suffered by rugby players are: concussions, sprains, overuse injuries, dislocations and spinal injuries. These injuries can cause players to forgo training or participating in any upcoming matches. Injured rugby players may be required to go through months of rehabilitation or—even worse—lead to them having to retire from playing rugby altogether.

In 2018 the most common among these five types of injury were concussions, which, according to the U.K. RPA—Rugby Player Association, accounted for 20% of rugby-related injuries. According to mandatory protocols, rugby players who have suffered a concussion are required at minimum to take a break of six days from training and playing.

During my time at university and in the military, I played recreational rugby occasionally with my university friends and more often with my military members. In terms of strength and size, I was smaller than most of my team so I was mostly tasked with playing flanker or winger. I did not have the mass to tackle the centers, most of whom averaged a height of 185 cm with a weight of 100 kg or more.

One day during a training session for an upcoming friendly match with a different company, I received the ball after a ruck and was promptly tackled by a team member who was much heavier than I was. From what I can remember, I took the tackle with my head lowered and the flanker’s knee made contact with my head. I received a concussion from the tackle so I was withdrawn from the game. I can remember seeing stars. It was like the cartoons on TV where characters who get knocked on their heads see birds and stars dancing around them. I felt nauseous and threw up. I had to be taken aside and I was diagnosed with a mild concussion by the medic.

Because of my concussion, I couldn’t play rugby or participate in rugby training for the following week.

LINK The Rugby Players Association: Player Injuries

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