Rugby Safety

JSK 252

Is rugby a safe sport to play within reason?

zAbbo

What an absolute crap post.

Is any sport safe, within reason ?

Totally objective.

JSK 252

zabbo wrote:

What an absolute crap post.

Is any sport safe, within reason ?

Totally objective.

"With comparison to other sports within reason". Did I have to state that line in my opening post? I think it was kind of obvious what I wanted to say. Ah, well what can I do, you cant please everybody. Why do you have to be so vulgar and cold with such a negative post? Im asking a question here and Im looking for answers off other people who know more than I do. Less of the agro and more listening would be in order. You might learn something too.

electric69

I play rugby and i once broke my nail...so im gonna go with no.:rolleyes:

How many pansies in fancy boots and knackbag girlfriends do u see playing rugby?none...its a mans sport and u will get more than a few blows, but if you play the sport thats what you love about it i guess.

Amz

*ahem*

RuggieBear

Amz wrote:

*ahem*

L
O
L

Is rugby a safe sport? really depends what you mean? Much tougher than most other sports with regards to contact anfd things like the front row of a scrum are not the greatest places to be if you are not strong and know what you are doing...

Leon11

I hear you scrape your face in the scrum, sounds nasty. I wouldn't know though.

Trojan

I'd hazard a guess that cycling is far more dangerous in terms of fatalities per participant.

Tim Robbins

JSK 252 wrote:

Is rugby a safe sport to play within reason?

Most of the serious injuries used to happen at the scrum and the break down and they have changed the laws here a lot.
That said, you don't play Rugby to get fit, you get fit first and then play. If you are properly trained the chances of getting injured are low and seriously injured extremly low.
Enjoy.

maxi-twist

I broke my leg playing rugby. Im the only person in 6 years of my entire year (round 90) playing rugby that got a serious injury,well maybe 1 or 2 dislocated shoulders or fractured wrists. **** happens.

JSK 252

Tim Robbins wrote:

Most of the serious injuries used to happen at the scrum and the break down and they have changed the laws here a lot.
That said, you don't play Rugby to get fit, you get fit first and then play. If you are properly trained the chances of getting injured are low and seriously injured extremly low.
Enjoy.

Thanks for that. I was just wondering about the whole rugby saftey issue as I was considering taking it up since Im only 16 and my friends (who play) say I should because Im fast. They said that I would be a good winger or full back (because im good at catching the ball and ****ing it out of there into touch). Is playing in the backs dangerous at all??? Obviously I know that playing as a forward is really dangerous (i.e hooker) because you could do serious damage to your neck from the impact of scrums. Rucks arent too bad are they???

RuggieBear

JSK 252 wrote:

Thanks for that. I was just wondering about the whole rugby saftey issue as I was considering taking it up since Im only 16 and my friends (who play) say I should because Im fast. They said that I would be a good winger or full back (because im good at catching the ball and ****ing it out of there into touch). Is playing in the backs dangerous at all??? Obviously I know that playing as a forward is really dangerous (i.e hooker) because you could do serious damage to your neck from the impact of scrums. Rucks arent too bad are they???

hooker is a piece of piss. tis the props do all the real work in a scrum.:)

tbh, you should train with the team, watch a few games and make up your own mind.

IMO playing in the backs is as "dangerous" as playing in the forwards at under age and anything under J1 standard. impacts are the only real worry and can result in dislocations and broken bones...no biggie.

As in any sport there is always a very small risk of something catastrophic. eg, Max Brito type situations

Sangre

Tbh a rugby tackle is probably safer than a football tackle. With the former you know exactly when to brace yourself for the hit and so you can turn into the fall, not to mention the other bodies around you can brace the blow. The worst thats ever happened to me in a tackle is getting winded.

With soccer you're basically running full tilt and someone basically trips you, oh so painful when you hit the deck.

smashey

RuggieBear wrote:

hooker is a piece of piss. tis the props do all the real work in a scrum.:)

...and tis the locks who keep the front row in place.

The best thing to do is join a club and train for a while. The club will know where to play you after having a good look.

Steffano2002

IMO Rugby is a safe sport. But when you play, you must have a "warrior-like" attitude and really have no fear. If you are not afraid of contact, you will go in every tackle, ruck or maul at 100% and nothing will happen to you. I find that it's the people who are a little bit afraid that always end up getting hurt.

I never got hurt playing rugby. Once I got KO'ed when tackling some guy but it was no biggy. Safe sport, and by far the best on the planet. Give it a try!

"Le Rugby, c'est l'école de la vie"

Pinetree Boy

Son- if you are that worried about getting hurt I wouldignore your mates and give it a miss. To be any good you need to go out thinking about inflicting damage not receiving it.

funky penguin

If you are really worried about getting injured, perhaps you should think about tag rugby. I'm not trying to be insulting, its a great game and good fun to play. However, some will claim that there is more of a chance of getting a hand injury from tag than from normal rugby. Personally, I don't know, but from my own experience, trying to rip those velcro tags of shorts can hurt a surprising amount.

Maybe rugby league?

Tim Robbins

JSK 252 wrote:

Thanks for that. I was just wondering about the whole rugby saftey issue as I was considering taking it up since Im only 16 and my friends (who play) say I should because Im fast. They said that I would be a good winger or full back (because im good at catching the ball and ****ing it out of there into touch). Is playing in the backs dangerous at all??? Obviously I know that playing as a forward is really dangerous (i.e hooker) because you could do serious damage to your neck from the impact of scrums. Rucks arent too bad are they???

Join a decent club and make sure they teach you how to tackle, ruck etc.
You don't need to be a rucking expert if you are on the wing but you will find yourself there from time to time. I remember playing a game once and putting my arm in the wrong place in a maul and my arm nearly broke.
I was the 2nd person to the maul and should have put both my hands on the ball, driving into the ball carrier, instead I binded around the back of the ball carrier, and got it ars*ways.
Bottom line, know what you are doing and you should be ok. Remember Stringer is a wee fellow and plays with the biggest.

Steffano2002

funky penguin wrote:

If you are really worried about getting injured, perhaps you should think about tag rugby. I'm not trying to be insulting, its a great game and good fun to play. However, some will claim that there is more of a chance of getting a hand injury from tag than from normal rugby. Personally, I don't know, but from my own experience, trying to rip those velcro tags of shorts can hurt a surprising amount.

Played tag rugby once in my life, for 5 minutes, during a pre-season training and I nearly broke my thumb. I hate tag. It's crap...

funky penguin

Tis true, that its not for everyone.

Tim Robbins

funky penguin wrote:

If you are really worried about getting injured, perhaps you should think about tag rugby. I'm not trying to be insulting, its a great game and good fun to play. However, some will claim that there is more of a chance of getting a hand injury from tag than from normal rugby. Personally, I don't know, but from my own experience, trying to rip those velcro tags of shorts can hurt a surprising amount.

Maybe rugby league?

You can get a load of bad habbits from tag, you have to avoid contact when you are carrying the ball you can just run into someone. In Rugby you should be trying to smash through them. I remember playing Rugby after a lot of tag and doing a tackling drill, I stopped just before contact and ended up being slammed dunked.
There are other examples of bad habbits from tag - it ain't got a lot in common with Rugby. It's chasing for Soccer players.

bugler

I share your contempt for tag, Tim Robbins.

You can get a load of bad habbits from tag, you have to avoid contact when you are carrying the ball you can just run into someone. In Rugby you should be trying to smash through them.

By any chance are you from Munster?

I think that if you are moved to ask the question originally then maybe its not for you. It's a rough game - your chances of serious injury are low, but the chances that you will end up lying on the pitch saying ohgodthisispainfulpleasemakeitstopandisweari'llneverplayanothergamegaainpleasepleaseplease at least once in a while are reasonably good. You will get stamped on, slapped in the face and take the odd knee. It's all worthwhile though.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Snickers Man

Tim Robbins wrote:

Join a decent club and make sure they teach you how to tackle, ruck etc.

I think that's very good advice. Rugby is a physical contact sport and the potential for injury is always there, but it is minimsed greatly by being properly trained and coached in safety aspects of play, in particular the areas of tackling, scrumming, rucking and mauling.

The IRFU has been quite good about organising coaching courses for those who get involved with kids' teams. I have done one for mini rugby, which is below your level as it is mainly for kids under 12, and found it extremely useful, both from the point of view of explaining the laws fully and teaching the skills of the game with the emphasis on safety.

That aspect of the game has improved hugely. In years gone by, many serious injuries took place in the scrum. Of late, however, most injuries are caused in the tackle. There are a number of reasons for that but at junior/amateur level many of them are caused by people not knowing what they are doing and tackling dangerously--both for themselves and those they are tackling.

Join a club and get proper coaching in the basic skills if you want to play. To allay your fears and put things into perspective, my 13-year old niece has twice knackered her ankle playing netball, each instance requiring her to spend a few weeks on crutches.

My thug 12 year old son has played rugby for five-six years and once got a bang on the nose which confined him to the blood bin for, oh about five minutes.

Which would you think is the more dangerous game?

Linford

funky penguin wrote:

If you are really worried about getting injured, perhaps you should think about tag rugby. I'm not trying to be insulting, its a great game and good fun to play. However, some will claim that there is more of a chance of getting a hand injury from tag than from normal rugby. Personally, I don't know, but from my own experience, trying to rip those velcro tags of shorts can hurt a surprising amount.

Maybe rugby league?

I played rugby for years and had very few injuries (all minor). Played tag in recent years and have done my ankle twice and dislocated my thumb, as well as a couple of elbows to the head.

I heard St Vincent's in Dublin was seeing a huge number of tag injuries every day during the summer (mostly ankles, wrists and thumbs) compared to normal rugby injuries during the rest of the year.

Amz

Well we've lost 2 people on our team, one per game, with finger and knee injuries. I'm terrified going to every game in case I break something so I know I'm not going in to tackle as much as I would in "proper" rugby. I'm mostly doing it for fitness and maybe to improve my passing, but unfortunately most of the people playing aren't rugby players during the rest of the year.

ALH-06

Fear or hesitance has no place on the rugby pitch. In fact, it'll get you injured. If you give less than 100% commitment to the tackle and other contact, you'll end up hurting yourself, perhaps badly. I mistimed a tackle there back in March and my kneck is still hurting...

But thats the nature of the game. Dont play it if you dont want to get hurt. People here have been saying rugby is safe - I dont think anyone can say that tbh. Its a high-contact, very physical game with a high rate of injuries, tho most of these are minor. But its no coincidence that New Zealand have the highest number of paraplegics in the 18-25 y/o bracket in the world...

RuggieBear

ALH-06 wrote:

But its no coincidence that New Zealand have the highest number of paraplegics in the 18-25 y/o bracket in the world...

link?

GerryRyan

zabbo wrote:

Is any sport safe, within reason?

Fair point zabbo - friend of a friend managed to break a vertebae (sp?) in his neck during friendly game of indoor soccer - just goes to show how easily these things happen ... but yes, rugby is potentially a more dangerous sport than others (full contact etc)

What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger

Crash

Hell I snapped my leg in two playing a friendly match of soccer, a guy I know has a scare from stomach up his chest from the metal part on the boss of a hurley - all sports will cause bad injuries at some stage. its just the frequency of em

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Pinetree Boy

ALH-06 wrote:

Fear or hesitance has no place on the rugby pitch. In fact, it'll get you injured. If you give less than 100% commitment to the tackle and other contact, you'll end up hurting yourself, perhaps badly. I mistimed a tackle there back in March and my kneck is still hurting...

But its no coincidence that New Zealand have the highest number of paraplegics in the 18-25 y/o bracket in the world...

I have never heard this before. Per capita or the highest number?

Steffano2002

Pinetree Boy wrote:

I have never heard this before. Per capita or the highest number?

I'm thinking per capita... I mean, New Zealand is as big as Ireland, with a population of around 4 million. Pretty sure China or India have a better chance of having more paraplegics in the 18-25 year old bracket!

Gowranistan

Is playing in the backs dangerous at all??? Obviously I know that playing as a forward is really dangerous (i.e hooker) because you could do serious damage to your neck from the impact of scrums. Rucks arent too bad are they???[/QUOTE]


Methinks he's not suited to the rigours of rugby. If he's fullback he will have to hurl himself at giant maurauding props. Can't be chicken doing that. It's not that dangeroust though. Worst i've gotten in ten years as a foward was nearly all my teeth knocked out (While wearing a gumshield). But that was a fluke.

Tim Robbins

bugler wrote:

I share your contempt for tag, Tim Robbins.
By any chance are you from Munster?

Ain't from Munster. I don't like 10 man Rugby either
Tag is actually a decent sport at the right standard. But the standard of most of tag right now, make it look like kiss chasing for adults. a lot of the teams are work teams and the rule where you have at least 3 girls on the pitch, or the fact that many soccer / gaa heads play it mean that only about 2 / 7 people on average on each team can pass the ball and have a clue what's going on.
So the other 5 just run around like headless chickens, with no concept of passing, running lines, doing loops, switches etc.
In fact it's really annoying watching people get in a tizzy who haven't a clue about the most basic patterns of running Rugby. For example the soccer and gaa heads thinking you man mark in Rugby in the same way as you do in Soccer and GAA.
Then when the other team runs a simple under 12 switch and the defenders bang into each other, they still don't realise, defenders never cross each other in Rugby no matter how many times you explain it.
There's nothing more head recking being in a competitive enviroment with such a mix standard, doesn't happen in any other sport.

Go and watch or play a game at the higher levels and it's not bad.

Rant over.

Tim Robbins

Sorry for the second post. A good book I would recommend reading is the following:
is called the handbook of safe rugby:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handbook-Safe-Rugby-Bill-Beaumont/dp/0713645202/ref=sr_1_1/203-9689463-4487929?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182112409&sr=8-1

I would recommend reading this. I nearly broke my arm in a maul because I had in the wrong place. I read this book, and I was the second man to the maul in subsequent match. Put my hands in the right place - on the ball and pass it back through the maul from which we scored a push over try.

Didn't tell anyone I read the book though Too embarrassed.

Pinetree Boy

Gowranistan wrote:

Is playing in the backs dangerous at all??? Obviously I know that playing as a forward is really dangerous (i.e hooker) because you could do serious damage to your neck from the impact of scrums. Rucks arent too bad are they???

Methinks he's not suited to the rigours of rugby. If he's fullback he will have to hurl himself at giant maurauding props. Can't be chicken doing that. It's not that dangeroust though. Worst i've gotten in ten years as a foward was nearly all my teeth knocked out (While wearing a gumshield). But that was a fluke.[/QUOTE]

I played prop and hooker for 25 years and never had a neck injury (nor did I ever play in a game where another front rower did). The front row gets a bad rap. The key is making sure that the technique is right (head up- arse down) and that the guys playing there are the right physical type. Rucktimeis far more dangerous. You are hitting something that hasno structure at pace and can get caught in a tangle which you can do nothing about. The tackle is far more dangerous and I have seen plenty of backs have their career ended by a bad hit.

I don't know about Ireland but NZ had a spate of injuries to guys in rural areas where you had idiot coaches with limited resources throwing young 19 and 20 year old tight forwards into senior games before they were ready and when their bone structure was still devloping.