Merchant Taylors’ leads the pack with new rugby headguards plan

Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School is to become the first in the UK to offer free professional-standard N-Pro rugby headguards to all Year 7 pupils.

The pioneering project, in conjunction with Performance Teq, aims to protect younger players from concussion or other serious head injuries and will see all boys who join the senior school from September 2021 receive a headguard manufactured by world-leading sports equipment firm N-Pro.

Image: N-Pro

N-Pro’s Defentex technology reduces the energy transferred to a player’s head during a tackle by up to 75% and has been approved by the sport’s global governing body, World Rugby, for use in matches at all levels of rugby around the world.

All boys play rugby in Year 7 at Merchant Taylors’ and the new headguards will be used during training and in matches.

David Wickes, Headmaster at Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School, said: “Merchant Taylors’ has a long and distinguished history on the rugby field, with many players, including Ben Kay and Richard Greenwood, having begun their professional journeys at our school. Indeed, a recent leaver, James Harper, made his debut for Sale Sharks only this weekend in the Premiership.

“As the sport continues to develop and adjust, our commitment to it remains the same. It is therefore a real pleasure to become a partner school with N-Pro and to be working alongside Performance Teq in the coming years.

“We are always looking for ways to innovate across our sports provision and ​to keep the boys as safe as possible while they play the sports they love.  We want to ensure we are doing everything we can to maximise safety and reassure parents that our pupils’ wellbeing is our absolute priority. ​Our new partnership with N-Pro is an important part of this process.”

Stuart Lock, Head of Education at Performance Teq, said: “Performance teq is thrilled that MTBS have made the pioneering decision to commit to the increased safety of their newest pupils as they embark on their own rugby journeys.

“We pride ourselves in sharing the N-Pro story and helping schools incorporate the ground-breaking headguards into their rugby programmes

“Our determination to introduce the very best modern sporting technology into the innovative, pupil-centered environment that is being created at MTBS makes this a partnership that we hope to cultivate further over the coming months and years.”