“Bigger, fitter, faster, stronger”, such is the vocabulary used to describe the modern rugby player of both codes. And the description is not far off the mark for the juggernauts in Union who crash into each other at every scrum, ruck or maul and the giants in League who smash their opponents to the ground from the ten metres distance which separates the two teams. The supposedly “bigger, faster, fitter, stronger” players of today have certainly changed the appearance and the style of both rugby codes, causing endless arguments from their followers as to whether the entertainment on the pitch is better or worse than that of yesteryear.

Whatever the outcome of such debate, there is no doubting the number of serious injuries currently being experienced by the big men in both League and Union. And the question rightly being asked is whether it is the sheer size and strength which is the cause of shoulder, knee, and neck injuries to the likes of Union’s Andrew Sheridan, Lee Mears, Phil Vickery and company and League’s Jason Cayless, Sean O’Loughlin and others.  

Both codes of rugby are conducting experiments and research with the best of technology to determine if the force of the many collisions on a pitch and the intensity of the confrontations are indeed the cause of the injuries which can often keep a player on the sidelines for many months, or even finish his career.
With “gang tackling” and “ big hits” now more prevalent in both games and, especially in League thanks to the ten metre gap between teams, with players pounding in to the opposition from considerable distances the impact on a tackled player can be huge.

It would appear that the bulked up bodies and the gymnasium induced muscular frames of today simply cannot withstand the forces which hit them at regular intervals.

Something has to give? Is the sheer size and power of the modern player the primary cause of the spate of serious injuries? Will it be that the research and the technology can provide ways to avoid such problems or at least provide for better and quicker rehabilitation? Or do we need a serious look at the rules of both of the oval ball games if we are to reduce the damage being done to the modern player? I suggest the latter. But I do know that, if I were playing my rugby today, at 6’3” and 16stones, I would probably be trying to win my place in the centre. Not in the second row!    

Ray French (November 2009)