http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/6440945/I-dont-want-my-son-to-play-rugby-union-...-its-too-violent.html

No - let's remember that in this judgement he is just a parent. And like any other parent he is entitled to his opinion, and to make a judgement for his 10 yr old son on the balance between danger and safety. Has it yet become his crusade (as a national pundit) to outlaw the game of rugby? From my perspective - not really. The point here is about concerns, and he's merely using his position to identify those concerns. I just think he's using emotive words to stir things up, because he knows that works.

Rather than violent, I'd suggest the game is much more physical these days, with considerably higher levels of confrontation and impact. This makes demands upon the players' physiques well beyond those in the days when I was a player. The tackle area and the ruck are the two main areas of difference in the game over the last 30 years. However, players train more these days and there is an awareness of the need for strength and conditioning also. The downside to this is that all players have less "shelf life" than they used to.

However - a large part of the attraction of the game now IS the physicality - which added to the long standing and positive educational, social, personal and emotional by-products are what go to make rugby such a great game for everyone.

I think the biggest danger (and especially with physical contact sports) is to not have respect. Respect for oneself, ones team mates, the opposition, the referees, and above all the spirit of the game. If you truly respect there will still be impacts, collisions, and other inherent dangers with rugby. However, in the hands of the disrespectful the game is a loaded gun - a licence to injure and maim. Part of our job as coaches is to coach respect, self control, emotional control.....how much time and thought do we put to it? Do we walk and talk respect? 

PW

Rob

Re injuries in rugby and parents’ concerns

Let me answer your question below. And I copy in Mini's coaches.

Yes. Let us get this out there for general discussion, or forum as you say.

This is my considered opinion.

I started playing rugby in 1957, so 51 seasons although so very few each year recently, last played in May. Although as (Old member of club) would say, “in my day” I played 43 games per season.

Yes I have played against British Lions and alongside several internationals including one from Australia. So I have met some tough guys out there.

The worst injury I ever had was playing soccer (for a rugby team) when I twisted my knee and stretched my medial ligament. Fortunately it did not snap and I came back stronger.

When unfit and changing countries and not used to hard ground, I did land on my shoulder gaining a mild separation, and that was Ok in three weeks or so. Not much more other than scrapes, black eyes, and small cuts and bruises.

I agree that I have been lucky.

Most people think my broken nose was from rugby, but it wasn’t. And now my main point. I did recover from that trauma ( I was 33) quickly because of the training, physical and mental that allowed me to recover quickly. It was a nasty knock to nose and cheekbone.

I have walked away from car accidents, when others have been ill for days. I have had serious tumbles on rocks, stairs, ladders, from horses, and recovered quickly when sometimes first aiders thought I should be hospitalized. (Although I struggle with a paper cut!)

I have many anecdotes of rugby players going though life and handling knocks far better than others.

There are plenty of knocks in life.

It is physical. When you are shaken around in a car crash, your internal organs do all sorts of movements, and body thinks it is under attack and closes down, causing many illness problems. Rugby educates the body and knows the difference between minor and major knocks. Those connections between muscle and bone are stonger, and take the strain.

It is psychological. You learn how to recover and get confidence that you can recover, because you have had knocks in the game. I coach girls’ rugby and when new to the game, on the first tackle, the girls lie on the ground thinking they are hurt. The games last forever as they are lying around the pitch all the time. As they learn, this happens less and less, and at the end of the season there are few stoppages.

Playing gives young people an air of confidence. It is rare that rugby players get mugged. My son was mugged twice for his phone. He started playing rugby. He walked differently, with a bit more confidence, and not seen as an easy target. He was attacked by a gang one Saturday night, when he was 20, and he fought his way out and escaped. Because he knew he could and saw his opportunity. He was beaten up a bit, but he was angry when he got home, not cowed.

In the 1990s laceType w:st="on">UniversitylaceType> of laceName w:st="on">PittsburghlaceName> did a survey on sports injuries. They classed an injury as something that prevents a player from taking part for two weeks. Rugby was ranked alongside swimming. Amateur wrestling was the worst, but rugby was ahead of soccer, tennis, baseball, basketball and many others, as a “safe” sport. Yes rugby players play hurt. But the game is not a hitting sport like boxing or American Football, but a collision sport where player are avoiding tackles. The game is more struggling for the ball than striking opponents.

Statistically the chance of really serious injury such as broken neck or fractured skull are so low, that they equate to shopping injuries. Over 100,000 adults play each Saturday afternoon in UK, yet we go seasons without hearing of major trauma. When it happens, it is headlines. Yes it is one too many and as coaches we work to prevent them. I still run through safety procedures with experienced adults, when we do scrum training. Referees course last week…First rule? Safety! (It is "laws" of the game, I know.) Referee looks at safety as first factor for all decisions. The laws have changed over the years to prevent injury, and the laws are different for phases of agegroups right up to under 19s.

 Life has risks, and in my opinion rugby equips young people to handle those risks.

 Would I let my kids play rugby? I have a son and a daughter and they both play. I think I have the experience to make that judgement call.

 Fergus

Fergus Coach, London UK

The rugby world (and especially we players) are even more conscious than Mr. Reason regarding the need for safety on the pitch.  Recent IRB rulings (October 2009) prove this.  An except is copy and pasted below. 

In my opinion, the Laws of the Game, if properly coached, adhered to and enforced, are written in such a way as to provide maximum safety and enjoyment for players of all types, sizes, and abilities.  Seizing upon a point in the article, it is the very absence of equipment/padding that encourages proper and safe rugby tackling.  I believe it should be outlawed/discouraged in the game, other than tape for the ears of the poor locks.  If a player is in such discomfort or so prone to concussions that s/he must wear a helmet and shoulder pads, then - again, personal opinion - that player has no business playing until recovered.  (Or, even better, take up soccer, where you can writhe in phantom pain from phantom grievances for all the world to see and cheer.)  I have never worn protective gear and, albeit I have soem scrapes and bruises to show for my reluctance (as recently as last weekend), I have never been seriously injured.  So long as I continue to tackle cheek-to-cheek, and my opponents fail to stamp upon my body whilst continuing to wrap their arms lovingly around it in the tackle, I beleive I can continue enjoying the game long past these already 28 years of playing.

If Mr. Reason were to take his reasoning (pun intentional) to an extreme, he would not let his child drive a car.  There are those drivers who disobey the laws, speed recklessly, drive under the influence of substances that impair judgment, etc.  Driving a car is inherently fraught with danger.  Granted, rugby football, too, has its share of inherent danger.  So does taking a shower without a bathmat or climbing a ladder to remove leaves from one's gutters.  At dinner with a very lovely lady last evening, I overheard a conversation about a neighbor who broke both his legs falling off a ladder last weekend.  I argue that, in all these cases, the taking of strictest care in accordance with proven safety measures lessens the realization of inherent dangers.

Thus, it is incumbent upon coaches to teach, model, and encourage safe play.  Notice I said, 'Model'.  It is incumbent upon all players to adhere, not only to the Laws of the Game, but to their spirit, as well.  Stop looking at 'Biggest Hits' videos on YouTube, and start looking instead at 'Greatest Sidesteps' or some other video that glorifies instead the beauty and grace of this game.  We Americans, in particular, need to place special emphasis on the converting our football players into real ruggers.  And, Sirs and Madams, please use your whistles loudly, often, and early in the match to maintain control.

Cheers.

Ruling 7 – Joining a Ruck

This question addressed the manner in which players may join rucks.  Law 16.2 (b) requires that a player join by binding onto a teammate. 

The Ruling stated that players joining a ruck must bind before or simultaneously with contact by any other part of the joining player’s body, including the shoulder.  This is a safety issue.  Players cannot come in like a missile and then bind as an afterthought.

The Ruling also recognized that in some cases a ruck turns such that a player coming from an on-side position to join as required by 16.5 (c) will bind onto an opponent.  That is acceptable, keeping in mind Law 10.4 (j) [no dangerous charging].

Dangerous Tackling

The IRB reiterated a 2007 Ruling regarding tackles in which the ball carrier is lifted and tipped horizontally and then dropped or forced to the ground.  The sanction for this should start at Red Card and work backwards only if there are extraordinary extenuating circumstances.

Caveman times he'd be out hunting

Medieval times he'd be training with swords getting ready to go to war

Now he can't play rugby because he might get hurt.

Tana Umaga: "I'd like to thank my parents, especially my mum and my dad."