Concerns over UK government plan to increase participation in school rugby

Government plans to increase participation in rugby within schools fail to take into account data on the serious levels of school rugby-related injury and are happening in the absence of systems for injury surveillance and prevention - according to experts from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and published in the BMJ. Professor Allyson Pollock and colleagues at QMUL say the government "should ensure the safety and effectiveness of school sports" and call for injury surveillance and prevention programmes to be established to help reduce injury rates. The high rates of injury in rugby union and rugby league for professional and amateur players, including children, are well established and cause for medical concern. For example, around 12 per cent of child and adolescent rugby players sustain an injury severe enough to require at least seven days' absence from playing in a season. Yet comprehensive injury surveillance systems that capture injuries occurring on the field and in training - across professional and amateur, adult and child, rugby union or rugby league - are lacking in every country except New Zealand. Studies have found most rugby injuries occur during the tackle but that scrums are the most dangerous phase of play. Recent rule changes, such as the introduction of non-contested scrums, may have reduced the number of permanently disabling spinal injuries, but their effectiveness has yet to be properly evaluated, the researchers say.