Ban the Rugby Scrum

[Guest guest]

Any comments regarding the following:

Taken from Aol News:

Ban the rugby scrum, says doctor

A leading doctor has called for a ban on " contested scrums " in rugby

union because of the risk of causing serious spinal injuries.

Bourke, who has been a medical officer at a top club for 30

years, said he had " changed his opinion " on the issue because of the

severe injuries he had seen during his career.

Contested scrums occur when the teams' opposing sets of

forwards " bind " together and push against each other in an attempt to

win the ball following a restart.

Mr Bourke, a consultant general surgeon at Queen's Medical Centre,

Nottingham, is also honorary medical officer to the city's National

League Division One club.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, he said that over the 30

years he had been at Nottingham Rugby Club he had seen seven serious

spinal cord injuries, six of which were related to the contested

scrum. Two of the young players are now wheelchair-dependent, he said.

" The incidents involving the two young players who are now wheelchair-

dependent occurred recently in my experience in rugby union and have

caused me to change my opinion on contested scrums, " he said.

" The consequences of injury are so great that the continuing risk of

injury cannot be accepted. "

Contested scrums were banned in Australian rugby league in 1996 and

there have been no acute spinal cord injuries since, the BMJ article

said.

But a recent study on Australian rugby union found that, between 1997

and 2002, 39% of injured players became permanently dependent on a

wheelchair.

The study also concluded that the laws of scrum engagement in rugby

union and the amount of insurance cover for injured players are

grossly inadequate.

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Carruthers

Wakefield, UK

[Guest guest]

There are many issues at hand with regards to contact sport. The contested

scrum is a significant and important part of the game of rugby union. I do

believe that rule changes to the scrum phases at the junior level of the

game need to be looked at closely.

In South Africa two weeks ago a young schoolboy from a high School in

Pretoria suffered a serious head injury in a non scrum related contact

incident. The 18 year old later died from his injuries. The investigation

into his death has still to be published and any final conclusions are still

premature. However an urgent need to evaluate the problems in rugby union

need to be considered.

In the light of the seriousness of these no comment of mine should be taken

as a slight on the trauma experienced by these people or the gravity of the

situation.

I have several comments to make with regards to what I have seen in terms of

school boy, club and even provincial level rugby here in South Africa.

1. The level of conditioning of the the players is well below what its

should be especially conditioning of neck muscles.

2. The contact phase of the game is mis-understood, badly coached and

generally assumed.

3. Even at top level international rugby I see player making tackles and

entering contact in rucks and mauls with their heads down, which has the

effect of rounding the spine cervical and upper thoracic regions of the

spine and has the net knock on effect of poor lumbar spine shape and rounded

back. These poor contact positions will result in injury. Even if no

immediate injury repetitive trauma to the back will result in back related

problems in later life.

4. Improved methods of engaging in the scrum can be utilised. I refer to an

article entitled " Total Impact Method: A variation on Engagement Technique

in the Rugby Scrum " that can be found at

http://www.coachesinfo.com/category/rugby/84/ as an example of thought being

put into biomechanics to improve performance and safety.

5. Improved strength, power and biomechanics of the contact phase of the

game designed for improved contact conditioning will go a long way toward

improving safety of player.

6. Improved coaching of coaches to understand these fundamentals may help.

If my rugby playing career was anything to go by I was never taught some

pretty fundamental principal of contact conditioning or biomechanics. It was

only on changing codes to play on the gridiron that I was even aware of some

issues.

7.Reevaluation of the substitution laws to allow more substitution of front

row players to prevent fatigued players from having to engage in the scrum

as the possibility of slipping and scrum collapse is increased as player

fatigue.

Some questions to the rest of the panel. Should specific strength test be

implemented in rugby specifically for the tight five and especially for the

front row players, A type of compulsory combine test for front row players?

How would you test things like neck strength, spinal fitness, over all leg

and body strength to ensure that the forwards are capable of taking the

pressure and force on them in the scrum?

Regards

Nick Tatalias

Johannesburg

South Africa

(Currently in the Congo)

Contact Conditioning Coach