What Is the Best Head Protection for Rugby League Players?
Rugby league is a high-speed collision sport in which players are frequently exposed to head impacts during tackles, collisions and falls. These impacts transmit rotational forces to the brain, in concussive and sub-concussive impacts.
Most conventional rugby headgear is designed to reduce surface injuries such as cuts and abrasions. However, brain injury in rugby league is driven primarily by rotational forces transmitted to the brain during head impacts.
The best head protection for rugby league players is therefore equipment designed to reduce rotational force transmission to the brain in concussive and sub-concussive impacts, not simply cushion the scalp.
What Causes Brain Injury in Rugby League?
Head impacts in rugby league most commonly occur during:
- tackles and collisions
- head-to-ground contact following a tackle
- accidental head-to-head contact
- Head contact with another player’s shoulder or elbow contact during challenges
When the head is struck or rapidly accelerated, the skull can rotate while the brain lags behind due to inertia [1]. This relative motion creates shear strain within brain tissue and is associated with microscopic damage to neurons and blood vessels [2].
Over time, repeated exposure to these forces through concussive and sub-concussive impacts can contribute to cumulative brain injury risk.
Watch: Rugby League Head Protection – Why Rotational Force Matters for Brain Injury
Do Rugby League Players Wear Headgear?
Some rugby league players wear padded headgear or headguards [3].
These products are designed primarily to:
- reduce cuts and abrasions
- reduce cauliflower ear
- provide comfort during contact
However, conventional rugby headgear was not designed to reduce brain injury risk. Instead, it focuses primarily on surface protection [4].
This distinction matters because concussion and sub-concussion occur without visible surface injury.
An increasing number of players are now opting to wear headgear that is specifically designed to protect the brain in sport.
Why Impact Reduction Does Not Equal Brain Protection
Many sports headguards promote impact protection or shock absorption. These claims usually refer to linear force reduction, which describes straight-line acceleration of the skull.
However, two types of acceleration occur during head impacts:
Linear acceleration – Straight-line movement of the head where the brain moves in a linear plane.
Rotational acceleration – Angular motion of the head causes the brain to rotate inside the skull.
Modern biomechanics research shows that rotational acceleration is more strongly associated with brain injury than linear acceleration alone [5].
Effective brain protection must therefore address rotational forces transmitted to the brain during head impacts.
Comparison of Rugby League Headgear
| 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 multi-layer kinetic energy dissipation system designed specifically to reduce rotational forces transmitted to the brain.
“I have coached rugby for over 30 years and witnessed the consequences of repeated head injury. Rezon stands out as a pioneer of protection against rotational force damage.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Steven Colwell | Rugby Coach
How Rezon Halos® Protects the Brain
Rezon Halos® uses a proprietary layered protective system called Rotection®.
This system consists of nine independently moving layers designed to dissipate kinetic energy during head impacts.
Independent laboratory testing using the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab methodology [7] shows that Halos®:
- reduces rotational force transmission by up to 61%
- reduces concussion risk by 74% [8]
Halos® is the only non-helmeted sports head protection to achieve both:
Should Rugby League Players Wear Brain Protection Throughout Play?
Head impacts in rugby league occur throughout training and match play at every age and level.
Because brain injury risk accumulates over time, brain protection is most effective when worn consistently during:
- training sessions
- contact drills
- matches and competition [10]
Reducing rotational force transmission during head impacts is one of the most effective strategies available to lower cumulative brain injury risk [11].
Frequently Asked Questions About Brain Protection In Rugby League
- Biomechanical investigation of head impacts in football. C Withnall, N Shewchenko, R Gittens, J Dvorak. British Journal of Sports Medicine.
- Brain Injury Science. Further Reading. Rezon.
- World Rugby Law 4 Headgear Trial, World Rugby.
- Does Headgear Prevent Sport-Related Concussion? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials Including 6311 Players and 173,383 Exposure Hours – PubMed Central.
- Subconcussive Head Impact Exposure and White Matter Tract Changes over a Single Season of Youth Football, Naeim Bahrami, Dev Sharma, Scott Rosenthal, Elizabeth M. Davenport, Jillian E. Urban, Benjamin Wagner, Youngkyoo Jung, Christopher G. Vaughan, Gerard A. Gioia, Joel D. Stitzel, Christopher T. Whitlow, and Joseph A. Maldjian, 2016.
- Rezon Halos® Product Testing.
- Virginia Tech Star Rating Framework.
- Virginia Tech.
- PPE Directive (Category II).
- CTE: The silent killer in contact sports. Dr Emer MacSweeney. TEDx Athens.
- 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
Author: Alex Reily
