World Rugby said on Monday it will require almost every player at this month’s Women’s Rugby World Cup in England to wear instrumented mouthguards that light up when a head-impact exceeds preset force thresholds. The transparent devices, fitted by 3-D scans, will flash red and simultaneously alert the match-day doctor when linear acceleration surpasses 65G or rotational acceleration reaches 4,500 radians per second squared, prompting the referee to halt play and send the athlete for a head-injury assessment. The governing body introduced the ‘smart’ gumshields at the WXV women’s tournament in 2023 and expanded their use across elite competitions in 2024; about 85 percent of male professionals now choose to wear them. At the World Cup all players have agreed to participate except two who are unable to do so because they wear braces. World Rugby’s chief medical officer, Dr Éanna Falvey, said the technology should become standard in top-flight rugby and could help officials detect dangerous collisions more quickly. The move comes as the sport faces intensifying scrutiny over concussion management, including ongoing legal action by hundreds of former players who claim the authorities failed to protect them from long-term brain injuries. By providing real-time, visible confirmation of severe impacts, officials hope the flashing mouthguards will speed up medical interventions and add another layer of transparency to player-welfare protocols.
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