So all professional footballers in Scotland are to be banned from heading the ball in training 'the day before & the day after' a game.
Clubs are also being told to limit all exercises that involve repetitive heading to one session per week.
The new guidelines come after Glasgow University research that showed former footballers were three & a half times more likely to die from brain diseases - so obviously heading will become a less extensive part of the tactical aspect of the game.
Not sure how the FA will react now as earlier this year they introduced 'guidelines for clubs' that limits players to only 10 high-impact headers per week during training apparently & I'm not entirely sure how one deduces what a high impact contact is ?
Brain CT scans are a routine annual event for me as they provide detailed information about my brain tissue & brain structures - thus providing more data related to any possible injuries or diseases of the brain.
After eight years of scans the pictures obtained show my illness has remained 'static' which without them to physically see I'd certainly be less confident about my disciplined life-style choices, for sure.
The scan is painless but uncomfortable because you have to stay so still for 30 mins but the images are incredible & makes you realise just how vulnerable & amazing the brain is & how one must protect it throughout life.
Tradition wise Brittany rugby union hardly gets a look in as its a football region despite the fact 'Bretons' have a reputation for being a tough race. The southern 'Basques' have hot blood but the 'Bretons' have hard heads along with a fierce historical independence mentality I'm told.
Our local gym has two rugby union players as training members, an Irish bloke called Darren O'Shea from nearby Vannes rugby union team training there & he is colossal in stature weighing about 130 kg/20 stone & 2.1 meters/7 foot in height - so I assume he's a defender of solid disposition because he's always on the heavy stack weights & only ever walks on the treadmill.
The other chap is Italian Ed Iachizi, also at Vannes & he's over 6ft 6 but not quite as heavy build wise - what effect that has on someone unfortunate enough to run into either one of them at full whack then God knows, cos that'll be some collision on contact for sure, let alone coming face to face with them in one of those heads down scrum-grappling play sets.
Don't think sprints will be high on their pitch trainings agenda for sure.
I was co-opted in to my school's rugby (union) team because I often played in goal for the football team and so was deemed to have better-than-decent ball handling skills (leave it!).
I featured three times when the football team didn't have a game...
I broke my nose in the first, a finger in the second and a collarbone in the third.
It's a very, very stupid game.
I have a lot of aches in the colder months due to old rugby injuries but the worst of all of them is my left knee from an old football injury when someone stamped on the back of my knee after I had slid in to get the ball.
Any scot that i know need their head examined anyway.
I loved the old Mitre paneled balls. Just seemed lighter and softer on the head.
Some of the ball out there feel like they could break concrete. No correlation between price and the touch of the ball.
I too, played keep in HS and early College and was "spotted" by the rugby club at college. Played one game and frankly it was one of my life's scariest athletic adventures. This is in spite of the fact I had played hockey on several very physical teams. They told me I'd be a "natural" wing back. I was very effective but it was primarily out of fright. Those guys were so big and quick for short distances. I did everything I could could keep from getting wrapped up and gang tackled. it was incredibly brutal. I will say that there tackling in clinical. They wrap up so well that you had no chance of breaking or rolling out like you can in American football.
The after party was also one of the more primitive parties I ever attended. Anything short of human sacrifice seemed fine to the group which composed of both teams partying together. I stuck to a much kinder and gentler sport after that.... Hockey.