Latest news with #ÉannaFalvey
South Wales Argus
7 days ago
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Flashing LED mouthguards to be used in Women's Rugby World Cup 2025
It is the newest advancement in technology for smart mouthguards, which were first introduced in 2021, with the most recent addition having been trialled in Major League Rugby and at the U20 World Championships. The LED gumshields will flash red when a player experiences a head impact that passes a threshold determined by World Rugby. 'We are absolutely delighted to be introducing the LED into the mouthguard,' Dr Lindsay Starling, science and medical manager at World Rugby said. 'Previously, throughout 2024, most of the smart mouthguards you will have seen players wearing are white. 'Mouthguards players are wearing now are clear, and so on the side, you can see the LED board, the accelerometer and the gyroscope. 'When a player sustains an impact that results in an alert being triggered, not only is that alert being sent by Bluetooth to the match doctor on the side of the field, but the LED board on the side of the mouthguard flashes red. 'This will now be formally implemented as part of the HIA protocol in the Women's Rugby World Cup and at every tournament that makes use of smart mouthguards starting after the Women's Rugby World Cup. 'The reason for this is to create awareness; now everybody will be able to tell when a player has sustained a significant head impact during the match such that it has triggered an alert.' It's already been a summer to remember... England, are you ready for what comes next? 🏉#RWC2025 — Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) July 28, 2025 A head impact that results in 65Gs for women and 75Gs for men, which relates to the linear movement of the head, and 4500 radians per second for both men and women, which is the speed of rotation, triggers an alert. World Rugby are keen to stress the mouthguards do not detect concussion, with some knocks below the threshold for an alert leading to concussion, while some players who experience an impact that triggers an alert will pass a Head Injury Assessment. The women's game has led the way in terms of implementation around smart mouthguards and concussion protocols. The instrumented gumshields were first formally used at the 2022 World Cup, while WXV was the first tournament to implement new HIA protocols. With disparity between the professionalism of various unions' set-ups in the women's game, World Rugby's chief medical officer Professor Éanna Falvey hopes the new protocols can have a trickle-down effect. He said: 'Since I have been in this role, we have moved that everything we invest in the men's game, we invest in the women's game in the same way. 'That is not always particularly easy because for some of the work we do, we need competitions to have the HIA process in place, so something like the World Cup for us is a real banner event where we have a high level of teams. 'We have not just the best teams in the world, but we have teams from developing countries in the sport. This is great exposure where we hope that having played at level, that can trickle back into their own country and their union can work hard to get the HIA process in place for them.' With more than 330,000 tickets already sold, and prices starting at just £5 for children and £10 for adults, fans are encouraged to secure their tickets now via
South Wales Guardian
12-08-2025
- Health
- South Wales Guardian
Flashing LED mouthguards to be used in Women's Rugby World Cup 2025
It is the newest advancement in technology for smart mouthguards, which were first introduced in 2021, with the most recent addition having been trialled in Major League Rugby and at the U20 World Championships. The LED gumshields will flash red when a player experiences a head impact that passes a threshold determined by World Rugby. 'We are absolutely delighted to be introducing the LED into the mouthguard,' Dr Lindsay Starling, science and medical manager at World Rugby said. 'Previously, throughout 2024, most of the smart mouthguards you will have seen players wearing are white. 'Mouthguards players are wearing now are clear, and so on the side, you can see the LED board, the accelerometer and the gyroscope. 'When a player sustains an impact that results in an alert being triggered, not only is that alert being sent by Bluetooth to the match doctor on the side of the field, but the LED board on the side of the mouthguard flashes red. 'This will now be formally implemented as part of the HIA protocol in the Women's Rugby World Cup and at every tournament that makes use of smart mouthguards starting after the Women's Rugby World Cup. 'The reason for this is to create awareness; now everybody will be able to tell when a player has sustained a significant head impact during the match such that it has triggered an alert.' It's already been a summer to remember... England, are you ready for what comes next? 🏉#RWC2025 A head impact that results in 65Gs for women and 75Gs for men, which relates to the linear movement of the head, and 4500 radians per second for both men and women, which is the speed of rotation, triggers an alert. World Rugby are keen to stress the mouthguards do not detect concussion, with some knocks below the threshold for an alert leading to concussion, while some players who experience an impact that triggers an alert will pass a Head Injury Assessment. The women's game has led the way in terms of implementation around smart mouthguards and concussion protocols. The instrumented gumshields were first formally used at the 2022 World Cup, while WXV was the first tournament to implement new HIA protocols. With disparity between the professionalism of various unions' set-ups in the women's game, World Rugby's chief medical officer Professor Éanna Falvey hopes the new protocols can have a trickle-down effect. He said: 'Since I have been in this role, we have moved that everything we invest in the men's game, we invest in the women's game in the same way. 'That is not always particularly easy because for some of the work we do, we need competitions to have the HIA process in place, so something like the World Cup for us is a real banner event where we have a high level of teams. 'We have not just the best teams in the world, but we have teams from developing countries in the sport. This is great exposure where we hope that having played at level, that can trickle back into their own country and their union can work hard to get the HIA process in place for them.' With more than 330,000 tickets already sold, and prices starting at just £5 for children and £10 for adults, fans are encouraged to secure their tickets now via
The Herald Scotland
12-08-2025
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Flashing LED mouthguards to be used in Women's Rugby World Cup 2025
The LED gumshields will flash red when a player experiences a head impact that passes a threshold determined by World Rugby. 'We are absolutely delighted to be introducing the LED into the mouthguard,' Dr Lindsay Starling, science and medical manager at World Rugby said. 'Previously, throughout 2024, most of the smart mouthguards you will have seen players wearing are white. 'Mouthguards players are wearing now are clear, and so on the side, you can see the LED board, the accelerometer and the gyroscope. 'When a player sustains an impact that results in an alert being triggered, not only is that alert being sent by Bluetooth to the match doctor on the side of the field, but the LED board on the side of the mouthguard flashes red. 'This will now be formally implemented as part of the HIA protocol in the Women's Rugby World Cup and at every tournament that makes use of smart mouthguards starting after the Women's Rugby World Cup. 'The reason for this is to create awareness; now everybody will be able to tell when a player has sustained a significant head impact during the match such that it has triggered an alert.' It's already been a summer to remember... England, are you ready for what comes next? 🏉#RWC2025 — Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) July 28, 2025 A head impact that results in 65Gs for women and 75Gs for men, which relates to the linear movement of the head, and 4500 radians per second for both men and women, which is the speed of rotation, triggers an alert. World Rugby are keen to stress the mouthguards do not detect concussion, with some knocks below the threshold for an alert leading to concussion, while some players who experience an impact that triggers an alert will pass a Head Injury Assessment. The women's game has led the way in terms of implementation around smart mouthguards and concussion protocols. The instrumented gumshields were first formally used at the 2022 World Cup, while WXV was the first tournament to implement new HIA protocols. With disparity between the professionalism of various unions' set-ups in the women's game, World Rugby's chief medical officer Professor Éanna Falvey hopes the new protocols can have a trickle-down effect. He said: 'Since I have been in this role, we have moved that everything we invest in the men's game, we invest in the women's game in the same way. 'That is not always particularly easy because for some of the work we do, we need competitions to have the HIA process in place, so something like the World Cup for us is a real banner event where we have a high level of teams. 'We have not just the best teams in the world, but we have teams from developing countries in the sport. This is great exposure where we hope that having played at level, that can trickle back into their own country and their union can work hard to get the HIA process in place for them.' With more than 330,000 tickets already sold, and prices starting at just £5 for children and £10 for adults, fans are encouraged to secure their tickets now via
1News
12-08-2025
- Health
- 1News
'Red alert' — mouthguards to flash warning at Rugby World Cup
Mouthguards that flash red to signal a player needs checking for a head injury will be used by the Black Ferns and all other teams at the women's Rugby World Cup before being introduced to all top-flight rugby. According to figures from World Rugby, every player set to feature at the World Cup, which will be hosted by England from August 22 to September 27, has signed up to have one fitted by 3D intraoral scan. So-called "smart" mouthguards have been in use since 2023. The earlier generations sent a signal to a pitch-side laptop monitored by a doctor when it reached a certain lineal and rotational threshold. The markers were 75G of force for men and 65G for women, and 4500 radians per second squared. As it stood, such impacts led to the player going off the field for a 12-minute head injury assessment (HIA) once play had stopped. ADVERTISEMENT The newest generation to be used at the World Cup and beyond would send data as before but would be combined with a transparent mouthguard that would flash red instantly, with referees then advised to stop play. According to The Times, the mouthguards were not mandatory, but the World Rugby chief medical officer believed everyone should wear one and the number of men's players using them would inevitably rise. The mouthguards have recently been trialled in Major League Rugby and the World Under-20 Championship. Dr Éanna Falvey, chief medical officer at World Rugby, said there had been some resistance to the initiative particularly from men. "We've had players who decided that they don't like the fact that it's a Bluetooth device, we've had players that feel it's uncomfortable, we've had players who don't want to know," he said. 'The women's leagues and teams and competitions, I don't know the reason for it, but they're much more likely to collaborate, they're much more accepting and excited about opportunities in technology. 'We have full opt-in for the World Cup now. There are two people wearing braces so they physically can't wear it, but, other than that, we're full opt-in.' There have been issues with smart mouthguards sending false signals, including during the recent Super Rugby Pacific season. The Times reported that World Rugby data suggested that concussion rates were similar in women's rugby to the men's game, ALthough 'head acceleration' events wee 'significantly less likely' with women.
