Joe Marler has revealed that he briefly forgot he had children after sustaining a concussion from a collision with Billy Vunipola.
Former Wales captain Ryan Jones has become the latest retired rugby player to have been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, having turned just 41 in March.
World Rugby have attempted to reduce the amount of head injuries in the sport by clamping down on high tackles, although players do still regularly suffer concussions.
Current England and Harlequins prop Joe Marler was speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast and revealed that he is very concerned about the effects of concussion, having briefly forgot he had children.
Joe Marler on the effects of concussion.
“First of all, it’s awful for Ryan to be told that and be going through that,” Marler started.
“It’s kind of struck a nerve with me because it’s been quite well spoken about the last few years in rugby, all of the discoveries that they’ve had with the concussion side of things and relation to it all.
“I’ve just buried my head in the sand, to be honest, because it scares me. I remember getting knocked out a couple of seasons back – a big, big blow when I was trying to tackle Billy Vunipola, which I wouldn’t advise anyone to do.
“I was out cold and the next thing I remember was being in the physio room and the kit man coming in. He goes, ‘Alright mate, is Daisy [Marler’s wife] here?’ ‘Yeah, she’s here.’
“Then he said, ‘What about the kids? Are they here as well?’ And I went, ‘Pardon?’ He said, ‘Has she brought the kids?’ I just paused and then I broke down. I had no recollection of having kids and it just really scared the life out of me.
“It all came back together and it happens, those concussions happen in rugby, it’s a contact sport. And since those moments I’ve kind of just gone, ‘No, I’ll just ignore it and bury my head in the sand.'”
“It scares me.”
“I got knocked out a couple of seasons back… I was out cold.”
“I had no recollection of having kids, and it scared the life out of me.”@JoeMarler reveals his fears about rugby’s issue with head injuries and the risks of developing dementia. pic.twitter.com/i86iopDIL0
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) July 18, 2022
The England prop’s career to date.
Marler turned 32 earlier this month, and has been playing professional rugby since he was a teenager, having made his debut for Harlequins in the 2009/10 season.
The experienced prop has a huge amount of rugby under his belt already, as he has played 246 times for Harlequins and 79 times for England, while he also toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2017.
Read More About: england rugby, Harlequins, joe marler
