34 SAFETY IN SPORT
sportsmanagement.co.uk Issue 118 • 18 April 2016
Tackling issues An open letter by 70 medical professionals has called for tackling to be banned in all forms of rugby played at school. Is the call for a ban an over-reaction or a measured approach to a real problem?
A The RFU is introducing a new, gradual progression to the sport later this year
Tom Walker • managing editor • Sports Management
n open letter, signed by more than 70 doctors and health experts, has called for a ban on tackling in school rugby games. Warning of a “high risk of serious injury” among U-18s playing rugby, the letter urges schools to move to touch and non-contact versions of the game. Allyson Pollock, professor of public health research and policy at Queen Mary University of London, is one of those to have signed the letter. “We have become increasingly concerned about the harms and risks of injuries to children playing school rugby,” Pollock says. “Our concern is that rugby is a high-impact collision sport and studies show that the risks of injuries for those aged under 18 years are high and injuries are
often serious. Many secondary schools in the UK deliver contact rugby as a compulsory part of the physical education curriculum from age eleven.” Pollock is particularly concerned about the types of injuries linked to the unique aspects of rugby. “The majority of all injuries occur during contact or collision, such as the tackle and the scrum,” she says. “These injuries – which include fractures, ligament tears, dislocated shoulders, spinal injuries and head injuries – can have short-term, life-long, and lifeending consequences for children. “Studies also show that injuries from rugby can result in significant time loss from school. Rugby injury, disillusionment with the game and interference with education, are the most common reasons for children giving up rugby.”
INJURY CONCERNS SHU TT ERSTOCK / MITZY
The evidence appears to show tackling is the cause of most injuries in rugby. Figures from a 2013 study – entitled Epidemiology of Time-loss Injuries in English Community-level Rugby Union, published in the British Medical Journal – estimates that 50 per cent of injuries in grassroots rugby are caused by tackles. Another study, by Ulster University last year, came up with an even higher figure, with 63 per cent of the injuries it studied resulting from tackles. The reaction to the letter, however, has been mixed. While many health experts agree that it is important to address any causes of injuries to children playing sports, many have called for a balance to be struck between the dangers of playing rugby and the benefits it offers.
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