Super Rugby announced on Friday that it was making temporary changes to its 'smart' mouthguard technology. Players will no longer be required to leave the field immediately for concussion testing if an alarm is triggered.

Players have been wearing mouthguards fitted with sensors that measure 'head acceleration events' since World Rugby introduced the measure in all elite competitions this year. 

Doctors monitor the mouthguards for alerts and can remove players from the field at any time to assess head injuries. This happened in the first round of Super Rugby last weekend. 

However, the new rule has not been well received by all parties. Canterbury Crusaders captain Scott Barrett told AFP that the initiative was "a step too far" and could affect the outcome of a match if players were forced off the field.

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend also protested after losing a second player to a Head Injury Assessment (HIA) in consecutive Six Nations matches. In a statement, Super Rugby admitted that there had been some "technical issues" with the collection and transmission of data from the mouthguards. 

The statement said: "Players will still be required to wear the mouthguards this weekend, but will not be required to leave the field for an HIA if their mouthguard triggers an alert to the on-field doctors. Players will be assessed by an on-field physician. They will only leave the field for an HIA if there are concerns. If a player passes an on-field assessment, they will still be subject to a full HIA."

"World Rugby will conduct further trials in the third round of Super Rugby Pacific to test improvements to the data transfer process, with the aim of reinstating the warning protocols once these issues have been fully resolved," Super Rugby added.

In the first round match between the Crusaders and Waikato Chiefs, three players were visibly confused when they were sin-binned. None of the three believed they were injured. They returned to the field after undergoing medical tests.

"Obviously we want the welfare of the players and that is paramount. But I think if you're affecting the game, if key players are going off and they don't know why, I think that it can be frustrating for a player," Barrett pointed out at the time. In October 2023, World Rugby invested €2 million to help unions, competitions and clubs adopt the new smart mouthguard technology. 

The measure was introduced for the duration of matches and training sessions. The intention was that the smart mouthguards would work in real time to send alerts to the independent match day doctor in the event of increased impact. 

For the first time, players who experienced high acceleration event but no symptoms would be removed from the game for assessment. But now World Rugby is taking a step back. It has come under fire from within.