Despite multimillion dollar price tags, rugby stadiums rarely cater to events outside of the sport. So why should communities cover the hefty bill when there is limited benefit to the wider community?
The dangers of high-impact sport aren’t contentious. Medical professionals agree that sport-induced brain trauma leads to degenerative brain disease – so why are we still allowing children to play?
Many elite athletes still find it difficult to speak out about their mental health.
Marco Iacobucci Epp/ Shutterstock
Owen Farrell is part of a growing number of athletes speaking out about their wellbeing.
Exploring the interaction between the heart and the brain, known as the heart-brain axis, has shown how heart function changes due to a concussion.
(Shutterstock)
Concussion doesn’t just affect the brain, but the whole body. The interaction of the ‘heart-brain axis’ means that as the brain works to heal its injury, it puts extra stress on the heart.
A conflict resolution expert – and rugby fan – explains how the game can restore spectacle and avoid farcical and dangerous mismatches due to players being sent off.
Pundits had suggested a strong World Cup performance was vital for the health of the game. The horror result in France will put even more pressure on the sport to reform to stay relevant.
South Africa play Scotland during the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images)
Rugby players risk serious injury due to the game’s sheer physicality. Sports scientists have worked with international rugby bodies to improve safety.
Dulani Jayasuriya, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Jacky Liu, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau e Ryan Elmore, University of Denver
A new machine learning model can pinpoint anomalies in sports results – whether from match fixing, strategic losses or poor player performance. It could be a useful tool in the fight against cheating.
The Rugby World Cup kicks off this weekend with hosts France playing New Zealand. Here’s why the All Blacks are still favourites to win the tournament, despite not being the official top team.
Members of the Wales and England squads have suffered hamstring injuries ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
Craig Mercer/Alamy
London Irish is just the latest big loser in top level rugby.
Efforts are underway to clean up sport in Canada, but if sporting bodies and athletes want to prevent abuse from occurring, we must re-engineer the structures, policies and practices that lead to abuse in the first place.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Athletes often recount how, at the very least, sport built their character and at the very most, saved their lives. But currently, Canadian sport itself needs rebuilding.