'Stupid way to behave': Ex-Ireland player's shock concussion claim

Ex-Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman has admitted he suffered approximately 25 concussions during his final year as a player, the majority of which he didn’t declare to his Leinster team doctor. Capped nine times by Ireland, the now 46-year-old Jackman was in the twilight of his career in the 2009/10 season – his last a pro – and he has now detailed the struggle he had trying to disguise concussion and manage the headaches it caused. 

Jackman, who went on to coach at Grenoble and Dragons before returning to Dublin, is now a Sunday Independent columnist and the latest piece by the former Ireland front-rower has shone a jaw-dropping light on his final campaign at Leinster. 

“In my last season as a player, my susceptibility to concussion increased massively,” he wrote. “The previous season I had noticed that it was taking less contact to give me a blinding migraine or dizziness but it wasn’t something I ever considered would make me miss a match or even a training session. Back then, there was still a bit of an old-school attitude in the dressing room to concussion and it was rarely seen as a serious injury among us players.

“Unfortunately, during my last season, my ability to play or sometimes train without concussion-like sensations was next to non-existent. Even warming up and hitting a tackle bag was often giving me a blinding headache – or I would temporarily lose my balance, or have a seeing-the-stars-like feeling. 

“My tolerance for contact was so low that it felt as though I could have been concussed in a pillow fight. I think I got around 25 concussions in that last season. The vast majority of these I kept to myself and didn’t declare to our team doctor, which was naive and stupid of me. With hindsight, I was lucky I lost my place as the first-choice hooker and I went from having started 19 matches the previous two seasons to just eight in my last.”

Bernard Jackman: I got around 25 concussions in my last season … madness@bernardjackman

https://t.co/MOn4A8Q4n8?

— Irish Independent Sport (@IndoSport) July 31, 2022

Weekly live scrummaging at training, though, remained a huge issue. “I would pop some pain killers on the walk to the pitch and knew that first hit would send a pain so sharp into the back of my head that I was just trying to get them finished and hope it was one of those migraines that didn’t hang around for long.”

As for the headaches, he developed a habit of buying time to try and get himself right. “The problem was that the more concussions I got, the less spooked or worried I was by them. I knew I just needed to buy myself time. 

“In a match, a lost contact lens (popped out by me), faking being winded, or a non-existent shoulder injury were all used to get the physio onto the field to buy myself enough time to get my balance back and play on. I know… madness… a stupid way to behave.

It was two years ago when Jackman received an email from Rylands, the London-based law firm taking a concussion lawsuit against World Rugby and other governing bodies on behalf of ex-players. He had a phone chat with them but didn’t join that legal action or any other case. 

“In relation to my concussions, I have had no sign of any lasting brain damage since I retired. I know that I, along with other current or former players, can’t predict the future, but I look back on my playing days with fondness… Every time I hear about another player I do worry about my own brain health, to be honest, but I’m good at the moment and so I try not to think about it and keep looking forward.”