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Speaker 1: We've got new head gear aimed at boosting junior rugby safety.

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Speaker 1: This is the University of Canterbury. They've developed a soft

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Speaker 1: shell design that offers better impact absorption. Prototypes undergone extensive testing,

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Speaker 1: Plans to expand into the US secure licensing with World Rugby.

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Speaker 1: Nick Draper's the professor at the University of Canterbury Faculty

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Speaker 1: of Health and as well as Nick Morning, Good morning.

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Speaker 1: There's been an exciting journey for you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it has. It's been a ten year journey, but

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Speaker 2: we're getting really close to having a finished product now.

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Speaker 1: With a view to it being commercially successful. Or is

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Speaker 1: this an esoteric project that sort of came to life

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Speaker 1: and took on a journey of its own.

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Speaker 2: Sure, so, I guess this started sort of ten years

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Speaker 2: ago and a conversation. I had an idea around a

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Speaker 2: material that might help to sort of reduce impacts because

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Speaker 2: I'm a parent of three boys that play rugby, and

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Speaker 2: I looked at it and spoke to Keith Alexander, who's

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Speaker 2: a professor of engineering at UC and he and I

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Speaker 2: sort of had this back and forth conversation. Eventually decided

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Speaker 2: we needed to measure the inclusion in Rugby first and

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Speaker 2: it kind of started from there and then that's been

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Speaker 2: a you know, so the journey of testing materials and

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Speaker 2: understanding collisions more clearly as we've gone through the research

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Speaker 2: and we're now at a stage where we've got to

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Speaker 2: finish product. The aim of this is to put it

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Speaker 2: onto the market, but all of the money that we

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Speaker 2: generate from sales will be reinvested into the research because

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Speaker 2: our focus is on how we can make the game

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Speaker 2: safer for young people.

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Speaker 1: What are you up against product wise? What's out there?

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Speaker 2: Well, there's a range of products. There's a standard headgear

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Speaker 2: that you see nowadays, which was approved under sort of

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Speaker 2: regulation twelve of the rules around sort of equipment, and

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Speaker 2: then there's a new Wild Rugby launched in twenty nineteen,

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Speaker 2: a new sort of law for trial which allows headgear

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Speaker 2: to be developed as a medical device and that's where

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Speaker 2: we would fit into that category. And we're using in

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Speaker 2: that stace, we're using materials that will absorb some of

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Speaker 2: those impacts in the collisions.

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Speaker 1: Is it a bit of product.

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Speaker 2: We think we've tested it and it's as good as

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Speaker 2: all better than any any product product on the market.

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Speaker 2: Intesting what the research has been about.

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Speaker 1: What's the market say, I mean, do people want to

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Speaker 1: buy the stuff if it's there? I mean do players go, yep,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to protect myself. Where you've still got a

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Speaker 1: hurdle there and convincing.

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Speaker 2: People, Well, that's it's a really interesting question. I think

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Speaker 2: if you look at the professional game, you've see an

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Speaker 2: increasing number of players that are wearing head gift. So

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Speaker 2: I think there's a concern and I think there's a

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Speaker 2: demand there. But the narrative is quite confused at the

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Speaker 2: moment because the sort of main thing that you hear

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Speaker 2: is that hegg you won't stop a concussion, and I

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Speaker 2: think we need to change that narrative to one of

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Speaker 2: actually not thinking about stopping concussions, but reducing the impact

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Speaker 2: load over through a game, across the season, and through

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Speaker 2: a career for players, and that's where those impact reducing

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Speaker 2: materials can be beneficial.

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Speaker 1: Fantastic, Nick, I wish you were with the journey. Nick Draper,

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Speaker 1: who's professor at the University of Canterbury Faculty of Health,

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Speaker 1: I was watching you see a little bit in the

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Speaker 1: NFL these days, they very cleverly disguised an increasing number

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Speaker 1: of players. Yes, they wear helmets, but they wear helmets

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Speaker 1: on top of helmets, so it's sort of visually borders

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Speaker 1: on looking slightly odd by the time you get to

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Speaker 1: that part. But it's a major issue in the NFL,

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Speaker 1: of course, in these class actions left right and center,

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Speaker 1: so it's a big talking point. Yesterday Dallas, Dallas were

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Speaker 1: at their very best. I say that loosely because this

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Speaker 1: was Monday night football. Dallas were at their very best,

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Speaker 1: but they were playing Las Vegas and Las Vegas. I reckon,

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Speaker 1: I reckon, I could beat Las Vegas, honestly, and I'm

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Speaker 1: just meet by myself, that's how bad they are. And

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Speaker 1: they were pretty bad. So Dallas looked perhaps a little

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Speaker 1: bit better than they normally are. But nevertheless, as they say,

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Speaker 1: a win is a win. And one of my heroes

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Speaker 1: in the game's guy called Pete Carroll, who used to

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Speaker 1: be the coach at Seattle and he's now in Las Vegas,

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Speaker 1: and I'm looking I'm saying, Pete, honestly, do you need this?

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Speaker 1: Have you got a plan to turn this thing around?

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Speaker 2: Or not.

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Speaker 1: For more from the Mike Casking Breakfast, listen live to

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Speaker 1: news talks that'd be from six am weekdays, or follow

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Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio,