Medical expert calls for ban on contested scrums

RUGBY authorities should ban contested scrums as there is an increased chance of serious spinal and neck injuries, according to a top medical expert.

In the latest edition of the British Medical Journal, James Bourke, who is a consultant general surgeon at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, has called for rugby union to follow rugby league in outlawing the contested scrum.

Figures released by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) show that one such serious injury occurs on rugby fields here each year, while up to 90,000 people play the game.