 |
| Image - Premiership Rugby |
Hawk-Eye.
Two words that instantly take you to the tennis court and thinking about whether a shot is in or out. Soon those two words will become more closely associated another sport, a sport that we all love - rugby union.
The start of the 2018/19 Gallagher Premiership Rugby season will see Hawk-Eye technology being introduced to help reduce the number of undiagnosed concussions in the English club game.
The premise is that a 'spotter system' will be run by Hawk-Eye at every Gallagher Premiership Rugby match, home European match, Premiership Rugby Cup match and also in the Premiership 7s. The aim is very simple, to improve player welfare.
Concussion awareness, and systems to deal with concussion in professional rugby, has progressed year on year. I don't claim to be a medical expert or an expert in incidents surrounding concussion but I, like all of us, welcome any development that helps to improve the safety of rugby players. The area of concussion is taken extremely seriously by all and this latest development highlights a continued commitment to improving the processes surrounding the area.
Each Premiership Rugby club will have a dedicated match day Pitch-side Video Reviewer (PVR) and their focus will be to use the Hawk-Eye system to identify head injury events. The PVR will have up to eight different camera angles available to them and medical staff will be able to analyse match footage in real-time.
“The Hawk-Eye system gives every club – home and away – an eye in the stand, who will now have access to more camera angles and the opportunity to rewind the action," said Corin Palmer, Premiership Rugby’s Head of Elite Performance and Player Development.
“Should they spot something they can bookmark it in seconds and transfer it down to the pitch-side medical team for them to review and take action, which could be a permanent removal or the need to carry out a Head Injury Assessment.”
Players' safety is key. The physical nature of rugby union is all part of the sport that we love and it's a side that players often relish too. But, with such intense physicality comes dangers to players’ well-being. With the ongoing systems in place, and this new use of Hawk-Eye technology, the rigour maintains surrounding concussion and that's excellent to see.
Players' safety is key. The physical nature of rugby union is all part of the sport that we love and it's a side that players often relish too. But, with such intense physicality comes dangers to players’ well-being. With the ongoing systems in place, and this new use of Hawk-Eye technology, the rigour maintains surrounding concussion and that's excellent to see.
