St Mary's Graduate Joins Health Experts Call on Government to Ban Tackling in School Rugby

A doctoral graduate who works in the School of Sport, Health and Applied Science(SHAS) at St Mary’s University, Twickenham has contributed to an open letter concerning a proposed ban on tackling in school rugby. As the Six Nations continues, the UK and Irish governments are being warned that they should do more to protect school children from injury, including head trauma, while playing rugby. Doctors, public health professionals and over 70 academics including Adam White of St Mary’s who also sits on the Executive Committee of the England Rugby Football Schools Union, have sent an open letter to Ministers, Chief Medical Officers and Children’s Commissioners to request a ban of the collision elements of rugby. The alternative being that children under the age of 18 play touch and non-contact rugby within British school systems. They write: “Rugby is a high-impact collision sport. Studies show that the risks of injuries for those aged under 18 years are high and injuries are often serious. Secondly, many secondary schools in the United Kingdom deliver contact rugby as a compulsory part of the physical education curriculum from age eleven. Thirdly, the majority of injuries occur during contact or collision, such as the tackle and the scrum. These injuries which include fractures, ligamentous tears, dislocated shoulders, spinal injuries and head injuries can have short-term, life-long, and life-ending consequences for children.” Evidence shows that there is a 28 per cent risk of injury₁ for a child rugby player over a season of 15 games. The risk of concussion₂ for a child or adolescent rugby union player over a season is 11 per cent - that is the equivalent of one or two players sustaining a concussion every season in every school or club rugby team of 15 players. Research also points to the tackle being a particular cause for concern. In youth rugby, tackles were found to be responsible for up to two thirds (64 per cent) of all injuries₁ and 87 per cent of concussions₂. Meanwhile, rugby union is being taken into 750 state secondary schools₃ with the aim of reaching one million children. Adam White said: “It is increasingly difficult as a schools rugby administrator to ignore the harm young people are facing in contact rugby. We wouldn’t accept the risk of traumatic brain injury in any other element of the curriculum, so why do we allow it in PE? All of the benefits of the game can be obtained in tag rugby; children who want to play the tackle version can join a club.” The authors of the letter have launched an online petition to replace contact with touch in school rugby at https://goo.gl/UXBRSK.