Ban scrums and tackles in school rugby to cut risk of concussion, experts urge

Researchers claim young players are more likely to develop dementia or engage in violence

TACKLING and scrums should be banned in school rugby to protect children from the risk of concussion and later brain damage, academics say. Writing in the British Medical Journal, they urged the UK’S chief medical officers (CMOS) to “put the interests of the child” first and remove potentially harmful contact from the game.

The opinion piece cites research suggesting it is far more dangerous than other sports, increasing the risk of violent behaviour and dementia.

One study comparing a range of sports found concussion rates in rugby were three times more than those of ice hockey, and eight times those of American football. Head injuries have been linked to an increased risk of dementia, neuro-degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and to violent behaviour.

Professor Allyson Pollock, director of the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University, and co-author Graham Kirkwood, a trauma researcher, said changes in sports rules to ban intentional body contact had been shown to dramatically improve safety.

In 2013, Canada introduced a ban on “body checking” – intentional body contact – in under 13s rugby. Research found it reduced the risk of concussion by two thirds, the authors said.

In July 2016 the four UK CMOS rejected the call for a ban on tackling in youth rugby, citing a report which claimed rugby was no more injury prone than other sports.

However, Prof Pollock and Mr Kirkwood said that under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 19) “governments have a duty to protect children from risks of injury and to ensure the safety of children, which is why we are calling on chief medical officers to act now”.

A New Zealand study combining injury insurance claims with data from a range of surveys found that playing rugby once every three weeks was 460 to 530 times more dangerous than a 30 minute cycle ride three times a week.

Prof Pollock said: “A cautionary approach, the removal of collision from school rugby and to end compulsion in the school game is likely to reduce and mitigate the risk of injury.”

Some medical experts questioned the recommendation.

Dr Alan Carson, reader in neuropsychiatry at the University of Edinburgh, said that while removing contact sports would cut injury risks, it was “far from proven” that concussion caused problems in later life.

“There is no doubt sport is good for you and that is far more important in terms of all-cause mortality than any increase in risk of neurodegeneration. The health crisis facing Britain’s children is not concussion but obesity.”