Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

Original poster

14 yo girl broken bones after playing rugby against a 14 yo boy.

115 replies

LastRoloIsMine · 17/04/2021 14:01

This happened this week.

A friend of my DDs met up with their mixed sex friendship group to play rugby.

They have done this since primary school and its the same group of friends. Its not a match and none of them play as a hobby they just mess around but do tackle each other.

They haven't done this in over a year due to covid ( and probably shouldn't have done it yesterday as restrictions are still in place Hmm) but decided to resume their game from last year. As I said they have done this for years and the only injuries have been grazed knees and a few bruises.

Sadly one girl was tackled by one of the boys and it resulted in her foot being broken in 4 places!
The boy was distraught. He's a lovely lad and not aggressive in any way. My DD told me that he has grown in the last year, he's much taller and stronger than he used to be but still a "skinny" lad. He kept saying he didn't mean to tackle her so hard, he didn't realise how strong he was.
DD said he knocked her clean off her feet, he wasn't running fast it is just a friendly game but the injured girl said it was like running in to a wall.
She recovering at home and doesn't blame the young lad at all as it was an accident.

This just highlights to me the dangers of mixed sex contact sport. These kids don't train, are not professionals and we're only playing but the boys strength caused injury can you imagine what a professional or semi professional males could do to females when tackling?

I worry for the safety of female rugby players and fear it will take a woman to die or have life changing injuries for the governing bodies see sense.

OP posts:
EmpressWitchDoesntBurn · 17/04/2021 14:09

I worry for the safety of female rugby players and fear it will take a woman to die or have life changing injuries for the governing bodies see sense.

I’m not sure even that will do it. You’d think Fallon Fox breaking Tamikka Brents’s skull would have been enough to stop mixed-sex MMA fighting, but it wasn’t.

Erkrie · 17/04/2021 14:22

I don't think the governing bodies actually care, imo, as long as they are being inclusive.

Helmetbymidnight · 17/04/2021 14:28

a lot of attention is given to elite athletes but of course, as women know, this ideology affects all levels. im waiting for the injuries and then the giving up to accrue in dds team sport.
it blows my mind that people cant see this.

Creepygnochi · 17/04/2021 14:34

If she broke her foot it will have more to do with the angle she landed at then anything the boy directly did.

AssassinatedBeauty · 17/04/2021 14:36

@Creepygnochi

If she broke her foot it will have more to do with the angle she landed at then anything the boy directly did.
You can't possibly know that.

14 year old boys and girls don't play mixed rugby for very good reasons. This friendship group should stop now they are of that age and switch to something non contact.

TinyRebel · 17/04/2021 14:39

Ah yes, but in the opinion of the RFU, mixed sex rugby magically ceases to become dangerous for women after the age of 18.
Poor girl, hope she's better soon. My own DD has has broken her leg twice playing rugby against other 12/13 year old girls (both of whom were absolutely mortified about it).
If a male - however identfied - actively wants to play women's rugby, then I'm sorry but said male is a callous psychopathic twat IMO.
There is one particularly vocal specimen all over a women's rugby FB forum at the moment, shouting down any discussion of serious safety concerns with accusations of 'transphobia'.

Erkrie · 17/04/2021 14:41

If she broke her foot it will have more to do with the angle she landed at then anything the boy directly did.

And you know this because?

Mybestestfriend · 17/04/2021 14:41

You seem more interested in making this a trans issue than questioning why you went ahead and allowed this, if it's so dangerous. Get off your soap box and do some parenting.

SmokedDuck · 17/04/2021 14:42

I think part of the problem with this or incidents like FF is that while they are suggestive, they aren't data.

People do regularly have serious injuries in rugby. People get hurt in MMA and the photos often posted from that Fox fight aren't worse looking than many.

We all know that it's dangerous because we have some experience of life. But for people who are looking for data - and that may be for a good reason or a silly one - these examples aren't so useful.

Creepygnochi · 17/04/2021 14:43

As an ice sports mum, I bloody well can know that. Foot and leg injuries are my forte, I deal with them several times a month. Unless he stomped down directly on her foot, it would have been a stress break from being forced into a sudden unnatural angle, hence the multiple fractures.

R0wantrees · 17/04/2021 14:46

The boy was distraught. He's a lovely lad and not aggressive in any way. My DD told me that he has grown in the last year, he's much taller and stronger than he used to be but still a "skinny" lad. He kept saying he didn't mean to tackle her so hard, he didn't realise how strong he was.
DD said he knocked her clean off her feet, he wasn't running fast it is just a friendly game but the injured girl said it was like running in to a wall.

All of the evidence collated by World Rugby demonstrates why it is unsafe to play mixed-sex contact sport post onset of puberty.

England Rugby has, thus far, chosen to disregard World Rugby's guidance to protect girls and women in the sport. They have a public consultation open:

England Rugby (closes 5th May)
www.englandrugby.com/about-rfu/rfu-policies/transgender-policy

thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4206745-Rugby-RFU-seeking-feedback-on-its-transgender-policy

I have teenage relatives who play rugby, and like the lad involved in this accident, they would be absolutely devastated if a girl was seriously injured by them whilst playing, regardless of whether the RFU sanctioned it and however the girl identified.

AssassinatedBeauty · 17/04/2021 14:50

@Creepygnochi

As an ice sports mum, I bloody well can know that. Foot and leg injuries are my forte, I deal with them several times a month. Unless he stomped down directly on her foot, it would have been a stress break from being forced into a sudden unnatural angle, hence the multiple fractures.

What is an "ice sports mum"? What training on rugby injury mechanisms does that give you?

andyoldlabour · 17/04/2021 14:52

Creepygnochi

Or it could be because male bones are stronger and denser than female bones, which is a biological fact.

Creepygnochi · 17/04/2021 14:54

@Erkrie

If she broke her foot it will have more to do with the angle she landed at then anything the boy directly did.

And you know this because?

Because I understand human anatomy, physics, and have seen more than my fair share of foot injuries in my time. Your foot carries you around all day, it is specifically designed to take a lot of pressure and weight. Hence why it's flat. If the break had been caused by the boy's weight and strength, we'd be talking about a pair of dislocated knees right now, not a broken foot.
Helmetbymidnight · 17/04/2021 14:56

You seem more interested in making this a trans issue than questioning why you went ahead and allowed this, if it's so dangerous. Get off your soap box and do some parenting.

You seem more interested in preventing her from saying the obvious that teen boys and girls playing together in contact sports is often dangerous - for girls - than reading her OP - it wasn't her daughter.

You get off your soapbox. Hmm

R0wantrees · 17/04/2021 14:58

14 year old boys and girls don't play mixed rugby for very good reasons. This friendship group should stop now they are of that age and switch to something non contact.

Rounders is a good game for mixed sex and all ages to join in with.

bluebluezoo · 17/04/2021 14:58

I don't think the governing bodies actually care, imo, as long as they are being inclusive

Not even that. Their money comes from olympic medals, so they will do whatever it takes to get those olympic medals.

Doping, abuse, including natal men in women’s sport. Anything.

NGB’s are nothing without money, therefore without olympic medals they are nothing. It is utterly ruthless the lengths they will go to. Athletes are no more than a product to them, and if one is injured or dies, there’ll just pick someone else.

HedgleyTheHedgehog · 17/04/2021 15:10

Play contact sports and injuries will happen

Fairly certain women vs women rugby results in broken bones too

Maybe they could play badminton?

Creepygnochi · 17/04/2021 15:12

Assassinated

Not sure if you realise this, but the physical mechanics of the foot is exactly the same no matter what it is doing. The real key difference is that in my sport 20 percent of all athletes retire as a direct result of a foot injury, which is to be expected really when you consider the sport is essentially encasing the foot in a leather encrusted cast with a four inch freshly sharpened blade attached to the bottom that you then use to move 50mph on the worlds most slippery surface, throw yourself up into the air as high as you can to complete 4 full body rotations in under a second, before landing on said slippery surface on a single foot at the force of a 1000lbs.

So yeah, think it's fair to say that I know more about foot injuries than any rugby player, ever.

ConstantlyChanging · 17/04/2021 15:18

I don’t agree that biological males should play contact sport against biological females.

BUT. I think your logic is skewed in this. You’re saying that this happened with a group of teens messing around so would be worse with professionals. Actually I think an unregulated group of teens with no training doing stupid things like tackling one another is far more likely to end in injury. Professional rugby players or even those with club training know how to avoid injury and there are all kinds of rules on how they are allowed to tackle, body position, tackling in the air etc and severe penalties for any dangerous actions.

Original poster
LastRoloIsMine · 17/04/2021 15:21

Mybestestfriend

You seem more interested in making this a trans issue than questioning why you went ahead and allowed this, if it's so dangerous. Get off your soap box and do some parenting.

Erm at what point in my OP did I mention transpeople?

As for my parenting I was not aware they were playing rugby. Yes I knew they were meeting their friends in the park which is allowed.
Strange that a boy breaks a girls foot but yet you blame me and its not even my daughter.

You need to check your priorities.

OP posts:
Viviennemary · 17/04/2021 15:26

I don't think girls should play rugby.

R0wantrees · 17/04/2021 15:27

Professional rugby players or even those with club training know how to avoid injury and there are all kinds of rules on how they are allowed to tackle, body position, tackling in the air etc and severe penalties for any dangerous actions.

World Rugby's conclusion based on evidence was that male rugby players at top levels should not compete or train with women due to significant increase risk of injury.
That risk is not mitigated by skill acquisition.

Original poster
LastRoloIsMine · 17/04/2021 15:28

I think your logic is skewed in this

My logic is they have always played this game but in the last 16 months the boy has grown bigger and stronger and he didn't realise it, none of them did. They had only played 5 minutes this was his first tackle.

While I realise this injury could have been caused by any of the male or female players it was the girls shock at how much stronger the boy was than a year ago. She's a tall athletic girl and last year she overpowered all of her friends boys included. She's very sporty and by no means delicate.

OP posts:
Original poster
LastRoloIsMine · 17/04/2021 15:30

I don't think girls should play rugby

Why Viven?

OP posts: