"The smart mouthguards will work in real time to send alerts of high forces to the independent matchday doctor," a World Rugby release said.

"This will, for the first time, enable players who have experienced a high acceleration event, but not shown symptoms or been seen by broadcast cameras, to be taken off and assessed."

The innovation will make its debut in WXV, the elite women's competition, from October, and will be integrated into World Rugby’s Head Injury Assessment process from January 2024.

Elite players will be required to use the new mouthguards in matches and training.

The innovation is part of a wider package of changes recommended to World Rugby by its independent Concussion Working Group, and follows the group’s latest meeting this summer in Boston, United States.

This included presentations from world-leading experts including Boston University’s professor Ann McKee and Dr Chris Nowinski, as well as professor Grant Iverson of Harvard Medical School.

As a result of the presentations that the independent Working Group heard, World Rugby’s Executive Board has also approved a series of recommendations.

The first is that players at all levels of the sport wear a mouthguard, after research in ice hockey found that as well as protecting against dental injuries, mouthguards can reduce the risk of a concussion by 20 per cent.

The second is that there should be a review of World Rugby’s guidelines on return-to-play after a concussion in community rugby, extending the time players will sit out to 21 days.

Earlier this year, the International Federation took action in the community game by confirming a global opt-in trial of a lower tackle height which will see most community players tackling lower in 2023/2024 seasons.

There has also been an update to World Rugby’s position on long-term neurodegenerative disease and repeated head impacts, which acknowledges the importance of focusing not just on concussion but forces to the head which may not cause medical symptoms.

All the deliberations of the independent concussion working group can be accessed on the World Rugby site.

World Rugby chief medical officer Dr Eanna Falvey said: "The latest scientific research and expert opinion is telling us one thing - reduce the forces players experience on their heads at all levels of the game.

"That is exactly what we’re doing.

"The advances in smart mouthguard technology mean elite players will be better cared for than ever before.

"We are taking smart mouthguards out of the realm of medical research and putting them into the world of everyday performance management to continue to manage player welfare in the best way possible."