Safety of rugby players paramount

THE Rugby World Cup is providing some truly thrilling matches; and fans of the game have many more to look forward to.

But avid watchers of the sport will know only to well how often players can end up injured.

Rugby, of course, is a sport which demands contact between opposing players. But powerful athletes can inflict a great deal of damage during flying tackles.

Now World Rugby’s chief medical officer says its time to look at ways of preventing the most serious injuries, such as concussions.

A safety review is under way which could lead to a rewrite of the rules on tackling.

Many traditionalists will, we are sure, be aghast at the idea of a gentler, less physically confrontational form of rugby but it’s quite clear to us that the safety of players must come first.

A rule change in American football, making any deliberate head-to-head contact a case for sending off, has dramatically reduced the number of concussions suffered by players each year. Scientists in the US believe that repeated blows to the head received by American footballers can, in time, lead to them developing a form of dementia, with symptoms including mood swings, memory loss, and personality change.

Rugby players face the same risk as those playing in America’s NFL and, if there is reason to believe on-field injuries could leave a terrible legacy lasting for the rest of their lives, then anything that can be done to prevent concussions is a good thing.

And if that means a change of the rules on tackling, so be it.