Player Load and Concussion Protocols Top IRB Medical Commission Conference Agenda

Understanding the impact of training and playing loads on Rugby players, along with strategies to enhance player welfare will be the focus of a five-day meeting in London this week.

The IRB Game Load and Monitoring Meeting will bring together medical experts and player representatives from around the world to consider key themes to form the basis of recommendations to enhance player welfare.

They will discuss topics around:

• How best to monitor load across the game
• The impact of excess load on injury causation
• The relationship between training and playing load
• Preventing player burnout
• Impact of travel and age on loadThe key meeting will precede the sixth annual IRB Medical Commission Conference, which will take place in London alongside the IRB World Rugby Conference and Exhibition. This year’s conference will host 80 delegates from 32 Unions, who will gather to discuss trends and advances in the game.Independent medical experts as well as Union sport science and medical representatives will gather to review the available research, discuss trends and advances in the game.In other parts of the conference, working groups will consider continued progress in the areas of concussion, Sevens-specific protocols, player welfare and medical support in developing Unions and education.CLICK HERE TO VISIT IRB PLAYER WELFARE SITE >>IRB Chief Medical Officer Martin Raftery said: “The purpose of the IRB Medical Commission Conference is to keep driving medical policies forward in order that we provide an environment where men, women and children currently participating in Rugby can have access to the best-possible training and education techniques in order that we can continue to tackle the areas that can lead to injury.”“While concussion continues to be our number-one priority, we will also focus on load-related injuries and the prevention of injuries caused by over-training or over-playing.”“We are committed to enhancing player welfare at elite and community levels and the objective is to develop practical research-based advice for coaches and administrators around game load and monitoring.”With player welfare being the IRB’s number-one priority, the conference will look to build on the solid progress driven by the previous gatherings, which have seen important developments in the area of player welfare.