Head injuries in professional rugby have been under intense scrutiny recently, with a host of new initiatives such as the Head Injury Assessments (HIAs) being introduced to the game in an effort to better manage this type of injury.
Despite this, Euan believes that there is still a lack of appropriate support and guidance on identifying and treating head trauma in school and youth rugby.
He added: “Positive steps have been taken in professional and semi-pro club rugby in terms of preventing and identifying head trauma. However, I believe that kids are notorious for keeping things to themselves so there are still a lot of potential incidents going unnoticed at youth level.
“HIT lends itself to school and youth rugby very well as at the moment a coach is really dependent on a child being honest with them or on their own gut feeling in determining whether or not an injury has occurred.
“Youth rugby players really do come in all shapes and sizes so anything we can do to help identify this type of injury as early as possible will mean that the game we all love so much will be in good stead for years to come.
“HIT isn’t quite the finished product yet. I’m looking to speak to anyone who may be interested in helping me get this over the finishing line – particularly with some of the technical aspects of the device.
“I feel the device has the potential to revolutionise the way head trauma is spotted in youth rugby and I’m looking forward to further developing it in the coming months.”
Bruce Ruthven, rugby co-ordinator at Stewart’s Melville College who oversees the youth section of Stewart’s Melville RFC, said: “Sporting injuries relating to head knocks are very prevalent in rugby union and are gaining a lot of exposure in the game. Scottish Rugby is one of the leading governing bodies addressing the issues, safety protocols and measurements of head injuries and it is great to see that Euan has taken significant interest in this area to assist towards the safeguarding and protection of our players.
“His findings and research are both inspiring and appreciated by the rugby community and we look forward to seeing the development of this ground-breaking project.”