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Pioneering study aims to find out how repeated blows to head in women’s rugby affects brain

The Guardian UK Sunday 24 May 2026, 06:00 UTC By Bethan McKernan Wales correspondent 1 min read
Key Points

A pioneering study is being conducted to investigate the effects of repeated head impacts in women's rugby. Researchers are focusing on this area because female brains are considered softer and potentially more vulnerable than those in men's sports, where Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) has been widely studied. This research comes as women's rugby continues to grow significantly globally.

Risk of CTE in men’s sports has been widely studied, but female brains are softer and more vulnerable

Cleo Pallister-Turley, a back for Cardiff university’s women’s rugby team, winces as she recalls two major concussions from playing rugby. “Girls ask me, ‘aren’t you worried about getting injured?’,” the biomedical sciences student said. “I enjoy the physicality and the intensity. For me, no other sports compare.”

Women’s rugby has enjoyed significant growth in recent years. Women now make up a quarter of players worldwide, according to World Rugby, and more than 400 clubs offer rugby to women and girls around the UK; in the 1990s, only a handful existed.

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Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

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