The acronym “HIA” has become a common part of the rugby lexicon.
If a player has a suspected head knock, they’re taken off the field and undergo a head injury assessment – a series of tests to determine whether or not they may have suffered a concussion.
It’s become such an integral part of the game, it may come as some surprise that it’s only being introduced to the long-time women’s domestic competition, the Farah Palmer Cup, this year.
“There hasn’t been enough done in the women’s game, and so this is a big step in the right direction,” NZ Rugby’s Medical Manager Karen Rasmussen acknowledged.
“We’re keen to do as much as we can to make the game safe.”
As part of the protocols all players undergo pre-season testing, an hour-long process looking at things like reflexes, balance and recall to act as a baseline comparison should they suffer a knock.
Black Fern Hazel Tubic’s been through it at the elite level, but says it’s been a long time coming on the domestic front.
“I already had a few people who’ve seen we’ve been doing the testing, and they’re like ‘oh finally how many years has it been?'” she told 1News ahead of the season.
“Previously there have probably been a lot of girls who’ve had head knocks, but it probably hasn’t been seen.”
New Zealand Rugby says it's a "big step" in the right direction for the women's game here and globally. (Source: 1News)
The introduction of HIA's is also being accompanied by several concussion studies and trials.
One is a study of saliva testing, where swabs are taken pre-season and sent to a lab in the UK.
If a player suffers a suspected head knock, more swabs are taken and tested, with scientists hoping to develop a test that can determine from saliva markers whether that player’s been concussed.
While the biotech company Marker Diagnostics is confident they can detect the signal in men, research scientist Patrick O’Halloran told 1News a lack of women’s competitions with HIA processes means studying the women’s game’s been a challenge.
“What we're trying to investigate here is particularly in female athletes, are we seeing the same signal at the same time? So we can bring out a test which will give a really high level of accuracy in the diagnosis of concussion so we can take really good care of female athletes in sport.”
Rasmussen says it could be a game-changer – offering the first objective test of whether a player is concussed.
If successful, it’s possible it could be rolled out right across community rugby as well.
You can see more on saliva testing in women’s rugby, and what it could mean for the game, on 1News at 6pm.
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