Player Safety in Rugby

There's been a lot of talk in Wisconsin about dangerous tackling in the NFL after the Green Bay Packer's Jermichael Finley suffered a bruised spinal cord in a recent game.  He had to spend the night in the ICU after being carted off the field from a dangerous "shoulder charge' type tackle.

 

The sports talk world is abuzz with discussions of how to protect players in a full contact sport like football.   Wisconsin's local ESPN radio affiliate with Steve "Homer" True on AM540  recently turned to rugby to answer the dilemma of how football should adapt to protect players.  Rugby has been very proactive in this regard and in fact has had more stringent tackle safety laws in place for decades.

 

Here's the link to the radio station discussion:

http://www.wisconsinrugbyclub.com/rugbyweb/blog/2013/10/22/espn-homer/dangerous-charging  

International Rugby Board Law 10 states:
“Dangerous charging. A player must not charge or knock down an opponent carrying the ball without trying to grasp that player.”

http://www.irb.com/mm/Document/LawsRegs/0/Law10EN_7702.pdf

Here is a perfect video example of this Rule in action – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NctcFYO0yQ&t=1m10s

This rule just makes sense.  If a tackler must wrap up in the tackle, it changes the focus of the tackle from the big hit or 'spearing' to grasping the ballcarrier.  While some boys high school players struggle at first with rugby tackling, we've found that our girls league players actually learn to tackle better, rugby style, since they learn the proper technique first.

The IRB also prohibits "dangerous tackles" in other ways, including what is commonly referred to as a "high tackle" but which may also include 'tackles' like the 'whip tackle' where a would-be tackler grabs a ballcarrier with one hand and whips or flings them to the ground.  This is clearly not 'wrapping up' and dangerous and not allowed.

In a related note, there are some studies out there that indicate there are less injuries in rugby than football.  The tackle rule is surely one reason for this.  The other reason is that studies show the more hard equipment a player wears, the greater the impact created.  Thus, although players may think helmets and other equipment protect themselves better, it actually may do the opposite, leading to increased impact force.  Some football players also play with a reckless abandon and false sense of safety with a helmet on and they sometimes lead with the head as a result.  This should become more and more a thing of the past in football.