Call for ban on ‘harmful contact’ in school rugby

Scientists in UK cite premature death and dementia among dangers facing youngsters on playing fields

Scrums and tackling should be banned from school rugby on safety grounds, according to medical experts.

Citing premature death, dementia and low educational achievement among the dangers faced by youngsters on the playing fields, scientists in Britain have called on the government there to introduce a ban on what they describe as “harmful contact” during rugby games.

Writing in a leading medical journal, academics say that tackles and scrums should be prohibited on school playing fields.

Allyson Pollock and Graham Kirkwood from the Institute of Health at Newcastle University argue that most injuries in youth rugby occur due to the collision elements of the game.

Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), they say that government ministers should “put the interests of the child before those of corporate professional rugby unions”.

Removing collision from school rugby is likely to “reduce and mitigate the risk of injury” in pupils, they say.

They argue that a history of concussion is associated with the “lowering of a person’s life chances” across a number of measures including low educational achievement and premature death. A head injury is linked to an increased risk of dementia, they added.

Drawing on research into sports injuries in youngsters, the pair argue that rugby, along with ice hockey and American football, have the highest concussion rates.

They said rule changes in collision sports can “make a difference”, highlighting the Canadian ice hockey ban on ‘body-checking’ — where a player deliberately makes contact with an opposing player — for under 13-year-olds.

Meanwhile, the evidence for other strategies to reduce concussion risk in contact sport — such as mouth guards — is “weak”, the article adds. And, in Britain, “teacher training in the skills of rugby are lacking, as is concussion awareness training”, the pair wrote.

The researchers called on the UK chief medical officers to advise the government to remove “harmful contact” from the game.

In 2016, the UK’s most senior medics rejected a call for a ban on tackling in youth rugby.

However, Prof Pollock, who has been researching injuries and rugby injuries for more than 10 years, and senior research associate, Mr Kirkwood, said that, under UN conventions, governments have a “duty to protect children from risks of injury”.

“We call on the chief medical officers to act on the evidence and advise the UK government to put the interests of the child before those of corporate professional rugby unions and remove harmful contact from the school game,” they wrote.

“Most injuries in youth rugby are because of the collision elements of the game, mainly the tackle.”

The danger of collision during matches was one of the reasons that the IRFU earlier this year set up a system of ‘concussion management training to all coaches involved in schools competitions.

The union’s Safe Rugby co-ordinator, Shane Mooney, delivered the seminars with support from a refereeing representative in each province.