The Danger of Not Playing Rugby
There has been a great deal of publicity over recent weeks and months discussing the potential dangers and risks involved playing rugby. Concussion awareness, rightly so, has raised the profile of the injury in the rugby community.
It is my view that much of the discussion of the risks of rugby ignores the benefits of the sport. We live in an ever increasingly sedentary society that does not encourage the challenges that young people need. As educators it should be of primary importance that we fill this vacuum activities to help young people develop the grit and resilience needed to succeed in life.
The work of Professor Alison Pollock has been making headlines, using such emotive language as: “he should have been safe at school” but instead was “playing a rugby match”[1]. Whether you see her work as reliable or not (see link)
the common perception of many parents is the one depicted in the newspaper. Professor Pollock has not supplied comparative data with other sports, so her research has little value to help parents understand injury risk
Indeed many of the possible risks of rugby as a contact sport have been associated with the potential risks of playing gridiron in the NFL, a completely different sport played in a very different manner. The RFU’s research points to the fact that there are around 0.7 injuries per game in 1st XV schoolboy rugby. An injury is defined as “any injury that prevented a player from taking a full part in all training and match play activities typically planned for that day for a period of greater than 24 hours” [2]
The chances of sustaining a catastrophic injury in rugby union (0.84/100,000 per year) fall well within the Health and Safety Executive’s ‘acceptable region’ and are similar to the risk incurred by people at work (0.8/100,000 per year). As a means of comparison the risk taken by pedestrians is (3.7/100,000 per year) and car occupants is (2.9/100,000 per year)[3]. Of primary concern should be the risk of heart disease, which caused 160,000 deaths in the UK in 2011,[4] as should the estimated figure of 4.6 million people with Diabetes by 2030.
Yes there is a risk involved in playing rugby, just as there is risk involved in every day life, in outdoor activities, in hockey, in CCF but would any of us seriously want an educational environment where these activities were not available to young people?
In 1919 an anonymous headmaster sent the Times a letter entitled ‘The National value of Rugby Football’ “one game at any rate has been justified triumphantly, not only as a pastime, but as an instrument of true education…unequalled by any other game as a school of true manhood and leadership”[5]
Beyond the virtues of his vaguely muscular Christian sentiment, many of the qualities that we all know that can be developed by playing rugby are absent from the day-to-day life of many children. Playing outside is a rare occurrence; social interaction with peers and adults is via keypad. Delayed gratification is waiting for the next Xbox game to arrive. Rugby in the right environment will develop confident, focused young people, who will be able to respond to challenges and overcome difficulties.
Are these unique to rugby? No, of course they aren’t. Where rugby is unique and why it is the best vehicle is that unlike any other activity or sport, it is still truly a sport for all shapes and sizes, catering to all those possessing physical bravery and a work ethic. Successful rugby players possess an emotional connection with the game and those around them. It is this connection that drives the pursuit of success and the effort required to become a better player. In this sense rugby is a metaphor for life, requiring all the same character traits that are needed to also be a successful human being.
If we are truly concerned about risk and are not basing our decisions on the availability bias that injuries in rugby present, perhaps we should be encouraging our young people to play rugby and be more concerned about their nutrition and lifestyle choices of young people.
