Ex-rugby player calls for better trauma awareness

A former semi-professional rugby player who has a traumatic brain injury has called for greater awareness of concussion in the sport.

Stephen Sugar believes his condition was caused by repeated head impacts while playing.

Mr Sugar is one of hundreds of former players involved in legal action against three of rugby’s governing bodies, which claims they were negligent in their duty of care by failing to protect players from concussions and repetitive head injuries

World Rugby and The Welsh Rugby Union said it would "never stand still" regarding the welfare of players.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) said the health and wellbeing of players was its "paramount concern".

Mr Sugar, who features in the BBC documentary Rugby on Trial, said: "There's still a long way to go, there's still a lot more safety [measures] to be done, we want players to be better looked after.

"We need to be adamant and stern about the decision to remove players from the pitch whether they like it or not if they feel like there is a safety concern."

'I became anxious'

Mr Sugar began playing the sport at seven years old and played throughout Worcester before he retired aged 54.

He recalled struggling to remember conversations, names of family friends and correctly associating words.

"I thought: 'Am I imagining this? Am I exacerbating this?'" he said.

"I would lose my train of thought during a conversation and be met with an awkward silence."

Mr Sugar was known by loved ones as an outgoing family man but he said as his symptoms progressed he began to feel like a shell of himself.

"Over time I became anxious because I was noticing things weren't right, but no-one could tell me what was happening until I had a functional MRI scan."

Mr Sugar said "everything fell into place" after the the scan revealed the extent of the damage to his brain.

Rugby on Trial airs on BBC One at 20:30 BST on Monday

In a statement, World Rugby and The Welsh Rugby Union said: "The ongoing legal action prevents us from reaching out to players involved in this programme, we want them to know we care, we listen and they remain valued members of the rugby family.

"We will never stand still when it comes to player welfare at all levels of the game."

The RFU said: "The RFU’s paramount concern is and always has been the health and wellbeing of players."

It added: "Rugby is a leading sport when it comes to investment in and commitment to injury and concussion surveillance, prevention and management."

All three governing bodies contest the legal claims.

Rugby on Trial airs on BBC One at 20:30 BST on Monday and will be available on iPlayer.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.