Todays Daily Telegraph. 110 rugby players paralysed. Rugby for boys?

[chill1243]

I would have guessed at a figure much lower that 110 paralysed.

How does this compare with other contact sports?

The D.T are raising the question of rugby for boys.

It seems mre gruniad than tellegraph. Is ithe D.T going Liberal.

I thought they hated the Liberal influence on Camerons Tory government

IIRC, riding is the most dangerous popular sport - popular as in lots of people take part every week in this country. Lots of opportunity for head injury.

Apparently boxing would be a lot safer if they took the gloves off - bare knuckle boxing means you can't hit someone's head with the same force as normal boxing, or you'd break your fingers.

I know very, very little about rugby but they changed hockey to reduce injuries - getting rid of the bully-off stupid thing that used to terrify me at school, I gather. Can't they do something about rugby scrums - change them in some way to make it far less likely to leave someone paralysed if it all does go horribly wrong?

Avantia is spot on,if your child plays at a proper (ie RFU affilated club) the mini section will have very strict regulations,each age group will be allowed to do a little more until at 13 they are ready for what might be called the full game.What does worry me is Ive seen some schools which mix up year groups etc,that never happens at club level

Edam, In rugby league they don't have the pushing in the scrum in the same way as they do in union, which seems (from the small amount of union I have watched) a much safer way of doing it!

Anyone know what the stats re for gymnastics? Probably much less these days with better kit/foam crash mats etc but my (rugby mad) family would never let me go to gymnastics after one of them had to spend time in a spinal unit and realised it was full of 11 year old girls who'd hurt themselves on beams and bars. Interestingly I always rode - perceived risk I guess.

There is often talk about changing the scrum, but as a front row player I would hate that. It is bad enough that in all but the top women's leagues they make us play under 19s laws. The scrum ties in players (creating space on the pitch), there is skill involved and a smaller better organised pack can beat a bigger one. Of course accidents when they happen can be utterly tragic leading to paralysis and even death but they are thankfully rare, and for me the risk is worth it.

I don't mind rugby league, but there is not the variety in terms of positions, and there are fewer players because the set piece does not tie in players as in union. You could pick a whole team for league made up of union flankers and centres.

I love watching pro sporton TV. Football, cricket and rugby during the world cup. But I have reached the age where I look at life through an analytical eye. I never played any sport professionally. \went to schools a long time ago, sport was not very visible on the menu. I suppose I will always remember 1966 when we won at footie; and also that saturday morning when we won the rugby world cup.

That apart, I suppose I usually lean towards losers. I think its in my genes.

Because I have noticed a lot of competitive women I have known seem to have sporting dads or mums. (I dont mean KNOWN in the biblical sense.)

true story: My wife went to see the doctor this morning. I said whats he like . she said "He looks just like Errol Flynn." What are the implications of that?

Chill, are you GabbyLogon?