More than 70 doctors and health experts have called for a ban on tackling in school games. Here two medical experts give their opposing sides of the argument
Rugby, like many other competitive team sports, has many fine qualities to offer children and adults alike. I am particularly impressed with rugby’s notions of inclusion – including the inclusion of sexual minorities in sport – as well as the promotion of the sport to women. Unfortunately, according to the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the structure of rugby, namely the collisions involved, also lead to an extremely high rate of injury. For example, in one recent research article on 825 school-aged rugby players followed for one academic year, there were 426 injuries, of which 204 kept children from playing sport for 28 days or longer. This research also found that there were 81 diagnosed concussions. Given the difficult nature of diagnosing concussion, this is a worrying figure.
Related: UK health experts call for ban on tackling in school rugby
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