What is the best rugby headguard for kids?
The best rugby headguard for a child is equipment designed to address the forces most associated with brain injury, especially rotational forces, rather than only protecting the scalp or ears. Traditional scrum caps and rugby head guards for kids are mainly intended for cuts and abrasions, so parents comparing options should distinguish clearly between standard rugby headgear and brain protection [1].
Parents should compare protective purpose, independent testing, rotational force reduction, CE/UKCA PPE certification, fit and comfort before choosing rugby head protection for a child.
Rugby head protection is equipment primarily intended to reduce superficial injuries such as cuts and abrasions.
Rugby Brain protection is equipment designed and tested to reduce the biomechanical forces transmitted during head impacts, including rotational and linear acceleration.
This guide explains: the difference between traditional rugby headgear and brain protection designed to reduce rotational forces, what scrum caps can and cannot do, why rotational forces matter, and what evidence parents should look for when comparing rugby headguards for children.
What should parents look for in a rugby headguard for kids?
Parents comparing rugby headguards for children should look beyond appearance, padding thickness and brand familiarity.
The most important questions are:
- What type of injury is the product designed to protect against?
- Is it designed to reduce rotational forces transmitted during repeated sub-concussive head impacts?
- Has it undergone independent biomechanical testing?
- Are the test results publicly available, clear and understandable?
- What level of CE/UKCA PPE safety certification does the product hold?
This distinction matters because head protection and brain protection are not the same thing.
Conventional sports headworn protection is designed only to protect the scalp and ears. They are not designed to, and have a very limited ability to, reduce the transmission of rotational forces associated with concussion and sub-concussive brain injury.
World Rugby’s own headgear specification states that its headgear standards are only intended to protect against cuts and abrasions and is not intended or expected to protect against mild traumatic brain injury [1].
For parents concerned about concussion, brain injury, and brain protection, the evidence to examine is therefore what protective mechanism it uses and what testing supports its claims. Claims about generic ‘impact force’ reduction should be separated from evidence specifically assessing linear and rotational acceleration transmission, both of which are relevant to head-impact biomechanics and concussion risk [2].
Are children exposed to sub-concussions in rugby?
Yes. Sub-concussions a frequent and normalised part of youth sport [5, 6].
A sub-concussive impact does not produce symptoms, but that does not mean that there has been no biomechanical injury of the brain.
A 2024 multi-study analysis of athletes exposed to repetitive sub-concussive head impacts identified patterns of season-related white-matter change across multiple sports, including rugby [5].
A 2025 systematic review of rugby head-impact biomechanics analysed 13 studies involving 895 participants and more than 44,000 recorded head impacts. The review found substantial variation in impact magnitude and identified the side of the head as the most frequently reported impact location in the pooled data [6].
The key point is this: Children in youth sport can be exposed to hundreds or thousands of sub-concussive head impacts in a single season.
The damage from these repeated sub-concussions is both measurable and cumulative [5]. The best mitigation of brain injury risk in youth sport is to reduce the transmission of rotational forces in sub-concussions [2, 5].
Do rugby headguards protect children from concussion?
Concussion is a complex form of mild traumatic brain injury caused by forces transmitted to the brain in head impacts. These forces include both linear and rotational acceleration, with rotational acceleration being of primary significance because of the shear strain it applies to brain tissue [2].
Conventional scrum caps are primarily designed to reduce superficial injuries such as cuts, abrasions and damage to the ears. They are not intended or expected to protect against mild traumatic brain injury [1].
The best rugby headguards for kids have been engineered to reduce the transmission of rotational forces to the brain in head impacts. This new category of youth rugby headguard offers brain protection, rather than just scalp protection.
No rugby headguard can remove concussion risk. A rugby headguard designed to reduce the transmission of rotational forces can, however, reduce the risk of a child experiencing concussion in rugby and reduce the risk from the accumulated damage of repeated sub-concussions.
Parents should therefore distinguish between:
- protection of the scalp and ears;
- cushioning of an impact;
- reduction of linear force transmission;
- reduction of rotational force transmission;
- independently modelled reduction in concussion risk.
These design intents and purposes are not interchangeable. Learn more: Do scrum caps prevent concussion?
What is the difference between a conventional rugby headguard and brain protection for youth sport?
There is a distinct design and intent difference between conventional rugby head guards and brain protection. One focuses on protecting the surface of the head from superficial injury, while the other is engineered to reduce the transmission of those forces linked to brain injury and CTE in sport [1].
| Head Protection | Brain Protection |
|---|---|
| Designed to reduce cuts, abrasions and surface injuries | Designed to reduce brain injury risk |
| Typically focuses on reducing linear impact forces | Reduces linear forces and, more importantly, rotational forces, the primary driver of brain injury |
| Typically uses foam padding | Uses advanced protective technology engineered for brain safety |
| Protects the surface of the head | Designed specifically to protect the brain |
| Traditional all-head coverage sports headgear | Modern brain protection technology |
The Rezon Halos® rugby headguard for children is engineered to reduce the rotational forces transmitted to the brain during sub-concussive and concussive head impacts. Halos® use patented Rotection® technology, which is made up of nine layers. The nine independent layers are engineered to move independently from the head on impact, and three specific layers deform to further reduce impact energy, helping redirect and reduce the rotational acceleration that would otherwise be transferred through the skull and into the brain [9].
When the head rotates rapidly during impact, the brain rotates inside the skull. That motion creates shear strain within brain tissue, damaging axons, disrupting neural communication and contributing to the biological pathway associated with CTE and other neurodegenerative consequences [2, 3].
By reducing the rotational forces reaching the brain during each impact, Halos® aim to reduce the tearing and shearing of brain cells and fine blood vessels, reduce the triggers for brain inflammation, and lower the cumulative burden of rotational force exposure across repeated sub-concussive impacts [2, 3, 4, 5, 9].
Watch: Why reducing rotational force is central to brain protection in sport.
Should children wear rugby brain protection during training?
Yes. Wearing the Rezon Halos® Rugby Head Guard consistently in training and games reduces the accumulated burden of sub-concussive brain injury. This reduces the potential risk of triggering longer-term neurodegenerative consequences.
Repeated sub-concussions transmit force to the brain again and again; usually without stopping play, triggering medical review or appearing in injury statistics. These head impacts may not look serious from the outside, but they are still causing measurable damage to the brain, which accumulates over time [5].
This accumulated burden is central to the CTE problem in sport: cumulative exposure matters. A player may experience only a small number of diagnosed concussions, or even no diagnosed concussions, yet receive hundreds or thousands of sub-concussive impacts across years of training and competition, beginning in childhood [5, 6]. Changes to white matter have been recorded in children after just one season of contact sport, even where no diagnosed concussion was recorded [9].
Training accounts for a large proportion of repeated sub-concussive head impact exposure, so protecting the brain in training is important and meaningful.
Comparison of Rugby Headguards for Children
Junior rugby headguards differ significantly in the level of protection that they offer. For brain protection and concussion risk reduction, the most important considerations are reducing rotational force transmission and CE/UKCA PPE safety certification.
| Protective Capability | Rezon Halos® | N-Pro | Hedkayse | Canterbury Ventilator | Gilbert Headguards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brain protection designed to reduce injury risk | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Qualified rotational force reduction | Yes (up to 61%) * | Yes (~34%) | No | No | No |
| CE / UKCA Category II PPE certified | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Virginia Tech Helmet Lab Rating | ★★★★★ | Not publicly declared | Not publicly declared | Not publicly declared | Not publicly declared |
| Product Design | Patented Rotection® technology | Viscoelastic foam | Amnesic foam | Foam padding | Foam padding |
| Product Weight | 70g | 190g | 220g | 130g | ~150g |
| Product Thickness | 9.5mm | 13mm | 11mm | 10mm | 10mm |
Most rugby headguards rely on foam padding to cushion the scalp.
Rezon Halos® instead uses a patented multi-layer kinetic energy dissipation system designed specifically to reduce rotational forces transmitted to the brain.
Explore a more detailed comparison of rugby headguards here.
What is the best junior rugby headguard for brain protection?
For a parent looking to reduce concussion risk and protect a child’s brain, the most important question is whether a product is designed and independently tested to reduce the forces associated with brain injury.
The evidence should include more than claims about ‘impact force’, softness or padding.
Parents should ask whether the product has evidence for:
- publicly available rotational-force reduction;
- linear-force reduction;
- independent laboratory testing;
- a transparent testing methodology;
- concussion-risk modelling;
- CE/UKCA PPE certification for its stated protective function.
Rezon Halos® has been designed specifically to reduce rotational-force and linear force transmission during concussive and sub-concussive head impacts.
Virginia Tech Helmet Lab is the world’s leading independent test facility for sports headgear [8].
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 CE/UKCA Category II PPE certification
- Halos® reduces rotational forces by up to 61%
- Halos® is proven to reduce concussion risk by 74% [9]
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 viscoelastic foam products only reducing rotational forces by 34% or less [11].
Rezon Halos®: Rugby Headguard for Kids
Halos® is a groundbreaking rugby headguard for children that protects the brain. It’s the only head protection of its kind that is designed to reduce your risk of concussion and developing Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) from the accumulated damage of sub-concussions.
Why Halos®?
- Reduces concussion risk by 74%*
- Reduces rotational force to the brain by up to 61%, and linear force by up to 64%*
- Internationally recognised Virginia Tech 5 star safety rating
- CE/UKCA Category II PPE-certified
- Sleek, lightweight, flexible and hypoallergenic
- Water and tear-resistant
- Machine washable
*based on independent testing
As seen in
- Headgear Specification. World Rugby. / Why governing body approval should not be mistaken for brain protection. Further reading. Rezon.
- Biomechanics of concussion. Meaney DF, Smith DH. Clin Sports Med. 2011.
- Leveraging football accelerometer data to quantify associations between repetitive head impacts and chronic traumatic encephalopathy in males, Daneshvar DH, Nair ES, Baucom ZH, Rasch A, Abdolmohammadi B, Uretsky M, Saltiel N, Shah A, Jarnagin J, Baugh CM, Martin BM, Palmisano JN, Cherry JD, Alvarez VE, Huber BR, Weuve J, Nowinski CJ, Cantu RC, Zafonte RD, Dwyer B, Crary JF, Goldstein LE, Kowall NW, Katz DI, Stern RA, Tripodis Y, Stein TD, McClean MD, Alosco ML, McKee AC, Mez J, 2023
- Dynamic Blood-Brain Barrier Regulation in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. O’Keeffe E, Kelly E, Liu Y, et al. J Neurotrauma. 2020
- Uncovering the hidden effects of repetitive subconcussive head impact exposure: a mega-analytic approach characterizing seasonal brain microstructural changes in contact and collision sports athletes. Kwiatkowski A, Weidler C, Habel U, et al. Hum Brain Mapp. 2024.
- Unlocking the Impact: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Biomechanical Insights into Rugby Head Impacts Using Wearable Sensor Technology. De Sousa-De Sousa L, Espinosa HG, Maté-Muñoz JL, et al. Sports Med. 2025.
- Training and Match-Related Head Acceleration Events in Top-Level Rugby Union: A Multi-League Instrumented Mouthguard Study. Roe GAB, et al. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2024.
- Virginia Tech.
- Subconcussive Head Impact Exposure and White Matter Tract Changes over a Single Season of Youth Football. Bahrami N, et al. Radiology. 2016.
- Rezon Halos® Product Testing. Further Reading. Rezon.
- Regulation 2016/425 and the Personal Protective Equipment (Enforcement) Regulations 2018: Great Britain. Office for Product Safety and Standards. UK Government.
- Brain injury in rugby. Further Reading. Rezon.
- Best Rugby Headgear for Brain Protection. Further Reading. Rezon.
Author: Alex Reily
