Player Injury: Acute and Chronic

Concussion, shoulder damage, knee ligament injuries and how to prevent them are the topics under intense discussion in both codes of rugby. And so they should be for, as medical science improves our understanding of such injuries and realises the dangers to ex players in later life, we must take care to protect all who play union or league.

Let me profess straight away that I know little of the medical and scientific arguments which can be brought forward to encourage safer play but I do feel that all talk of lowering the number of interchanges in League or reducing the number of substitutions in Union to make for lesser injuries will do little to ease the problem. We must look at the rules and the modern play of both codes which to me are at the heart of the bulk of the serious injuries incurred by young and old.

As far as looking into the safety of youngsters one suggestion has been to play games based on weight and not age as happens today. A Headmaster of one well known rugby playing school has suggested playing according to weight – a format which is not new as I myself played under such strictures when playing for the Cowley School junior teams in the Fifties. We fielded two junior teams, the Bantams, which insisted that all players weighed under 7 st. 8 lbs, and the Colts where lads had to be under 9st 8lbs.The problem with such teams was that a player was often moved out of his year group and his friends and like me, as an 11years old playing for the Colts, I  was somewhat shy of playing alongside some 17/18 years old Sixth Formers in the Colts team.

The major problem regarding any increase in serious injuries is surely the change of rules in both codes in recent years which have led to the superiority of the physical approach rather than the skilful approach. I played my international rugby union in the second row of the England pack at 6’ 3” and 15st.8lbs – at that height and weight today I would be a candidate for stand off or centre. I would certainly not be in the pack where, in the current Rugby Union World Cup we have 20st plus props as the norm, 18st and 6’10” second rows, and  17st backrowers pushing, jumping, and mauling against each other. In League we have muscled behemoths charging at each other at great pace from a mere 10 metres mark. With such players indulging in such activities for eighty minutes and putting “Hits” on each other with far greater force than ever done in past years it is little wonder there should be concern for their well being.

If we want to protect young and old rugby players then we must not tinker with any remedies but must look closely at the changes in the rules in recent years which have brought about the injuries which are giving concern both during and after a playing career.

Ray French

September 2015