What Is the Best Rugby Headguard for Brain Protection?

What protective headgear do rugby players typically wear?

Most rugby players who wear headgear use padded scrum caps or headguards. These are soft, lightweight head coverings designed to protect the scalp and ears from surface injuries.

Typical purposes of traditional rugby headgear include:

• Protecting from cuts and abrasions
• Reducing cauliflower ear
• Providing comfort during contact

However, scrum caps and headguards are not designed to protect the brain ^[3]. They focus on surface injury protection rather than reducing the forces that cause brain injury.

This distinction is hugely critical, because concussion and sub-concussion are a significant risk in rugby, and current headgear is not protective against this risk.

What does World Rugby Regulation 12 say about headgear?

World Rugby Regulation 12 ^[3] explicitly states that headgear:

• Is not intended nor expected to protect against concussion or mild traumatic brain injury
• Is designed only to protect against cuts, abrasions, and superficial injuries
• Has limited impact attenuation properties by design

Regulation 12 sets strict limits on padding thickness and material density, ensuring headgear remains lightweight and non-rigid. Most conventional rugby headguards are constructed from a single thin layer (typically 10 mm) of lightweight, closed-cell foam and are restricted by World Rugby Regulation 12 to a maximum density of 45 kg/m³ ^[4]. As a result, headgear designed and approved for use under World Rugby rules is not intended nor expected to reduce brain injury risk.

Why traditional rugby headgear does not protect the brain

Traditional rugby headgear relies on foam padding and surface coverage. While padding can reduce linear force, it has limited ability to reduce rotational forces, which are the primary driver of brain injury ^[5].

Rotational forces occur when the head is struck at an angle or rapidly accelerated, causing the brain to rotate inside the skull. This movement leads to:

• Shearing of brain cells
• Tearing of tiny blood vessels
• Disruption of the blood–brain barrier
• Development of damaging neuro-inflammation over time
• Increased risk of neuro-degenerative disease, including CTE, MND and Parkinson’s

Biomechanics research consistently shows that rotational acceleration/force is more strongly linked to brain injury than linear acceleration/force alone ^[6].

Independent testing in the lab and studies in the field demonstrate that padded headgear designed per World Rugby Rule 12 specification does not meaningfully reduce concussion risk ^[7] and, in some cases, may increase rotational torque due to catch points from padded design, added mass and surface area.

What actually causes brain injury in rugby?

Brain injury in rugby is not limited to diagnosed concussions.

Players are exposed to repeated head impacts through ^[8]:

• Tackles and rucks
• Head-to-body and head-to-ground contact
• Scrums, mauls, and collisions

The majority of these impacts are sub-concussive, meaning they produce no concussion symptoms, but still transmit damaging rotational forces to the brain. Sub-concussion results from an impact of lower force than required to cause a concussion. Sub-concussive impacts are 500 times more frequent than impacts which result in concussion. A sub-concussion causes damage to the brain without any symptoms. 

Over time, repeated exposure to sub-concussions and rotational forces is associated with cumulative brain injury and long-term neurological risk, even in players who have never been diagnosed with a concussion. One in five players diagnosed with CTE, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that leads to early-onset dementia, have never had a recorded concussion ^[9], and rotational forces are now being better understood in regard to increased risk to CTE ^[10].

Brain Injury Risk in Rugby League

Rugby league and rugby union both expose players to frequent head impacts during tackles, collisions, and falls. However, the pattern of play in rugby league often results in higher-speed collisions and repeated defensive tackles.

Unlike rugby union, rugby league is played with fewer stoppages and typically involves continuous high-speed phases of play. As a result, tackles can occur at greater frequency and momentum, increasing the forces experienced by the brain in head impacts.

When the head is struck at an angle or impacts the ground, rapid angular acceleration occurs. This produces rotational forces that cause the brain to rotate inside the skull. Rotational forces create shear strain within brain tissue. This is associated with tearing of tiny blood vessels and brain cells resulting, over time, in the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier and the creation of damaging neuro-inflammation ^[5].

Head impacts in rugby league commonly occur during:

• high-speed tackles
  
• head-to-ground contact following a tackle
  
• Head impacts with shoulders or elbows
  
• accidental head-to-head contact
  

These impacts can occur repeatedly during both training and match play at every level and age grade. Even when an impact does not cause visible concussion symptoms, damaging rotational forces are still transmitted to the brain.

Reducing the transmission of rotational forces during head impacts is therefore central to reducing brain injury risk in both rugby league and rugby union.

How does Rezon Halos® differ from scrum caps and headguards?

Rezon Halos® is brain protection.

Key differences include:

• Designed specifically to reduce rotational force transmission and protect in sub-concussive impacts
• CE / UKCA Category II PPE certified, the legal standard for protective headwear beyond cuts and scrapes ^[11]
• Independently tested to reduce rotational forces by at least ~60%
• Proven to reduce concussion risk by 74% based on the leading biomechanics testing methodology; Virginia Tech Helmet Lab
• Engineered using a proprietary multi-layer protective system, Rotection®, rather than surface foam padding

Halos® reduces the transmission of damaging forces before they reach the brain, rather than purely cushioning the scalp.

Halos® reduces the transmission of rotational forces to the brain to lessen the tearing of brain cells and blood vessels in each concussive and sub-concussive impact, aiming to reduce brain inflammation and lower the cumulative exposure of rotational forces to the brain.

Rezon Halos® is distinct from World Rugby approved headgear because it is deliberately designed to reduce rotational forces transmitted to the brain.

By lowering exposure to both frequent sub-concussive impacts and less frequent concussive hits, Halos® is designed to reduce cumulative brain injury burden and long-term neurological risk.

Comparison of Rugby Headguards

Most rugby headguards rely on foam padding to cushion the scalp.

Rezon Halos® instead uses a multi-layer kinetic energy dissipation system designed specifically to reduce rotational forces transmitted to the brain.

What does independent testing show?

Virginia Tech Helmet Lab is the world’s leading independent test facility for sports headgear ^[12].

Virginia Tech:

• Uses a globally accepted, peer-reviewed testing methodology
• Evaluates both linear and rotational acceleration
• Assigns safety ratings from 1 to 5 stars
• Recommends only products achieving 4 or 5 stars

Rezon Halos® is:

• The only non-helmeted head protection to achieve a 5-star Virginia Tech safety rating and a Category II PPE certification
• Halos® reduces rotational forces by at least 60%
• Halos® is proven to reduce concussion risk by 74% ^[13]

No World Rugby approved rugby scrum cap or headguard on the market has publicly disclosed a 4- or 5-star Virginia Tech safety rating.

Independent testing shows that Halos® outperforms the leading head guard tested for rotational force reduction, with leading viscoelastic products only reducing rotational forces by 34% or less ^[14]. 

Should rugby players wear brain protection throughout play?

Yes. Brain injury risk in rugby is not confined to high-impact collisions or scrums or game play. Brain injury happens in youth and amateur rugby.

Sub-concussive impacts occur throughout:

• Training sessions
• Contact drills
• Matches

Because brain injury risk accumulates over time, brain protection is most effective when worn consistently, not only in specific phases of play, and from as early as possible in childhood. Given we don’t know which child may have a genetic or metabolic risk factor, which child will continue to play sport into adulthood and or as a professional, and given the damage of sub-concussions and rotational forces are cumulative, every child is at risk of a high cumulative lifetime exposure, meaning their risk of neurodegenerative disease starts in childhood.

Reducing cumulative exposure to rotational forces from highly frequent sub-concussive impacts and less frequent concussive impacts is one of the most effective ways to lower long-term brain injury risk in rugby ^[5].