Rugby and Tackling the Truth BBC1 2030 Tonight

OldRio

An half hour program on TV tonight about brain injuries in Rugby. Should be interesting. Presented by John Beattie.

aimee1

excellent show, some scary stuff, scary numbers. the george north incidents look worse each time i see them

OldRio

Agreed. The increase in concussions in Rugby and the decrease in the NFL is something that needs looking at.


Bill Beaumonts comments about size v speed in the last 18 months was a little difficult to believe.

irishbucsfan

I'm sure it'll be looked at very closely when the upcoming "League Of Denial" film comes out starring Will Smith and shining a light on how the issue was swept under the rug by the NFL. If it creates enough negative public perception then the rugby officials might react aggressively and deal with it a bit more proactively to try and score some PR points.

EDIT: Haven't seen tonight's show mind yet, will watch it later on the player.

bilston

It was an interesting watch although I wouldn't say I learnt too much I didn't already know other than there has been a decrease in the concussions in NFL since they changed the rules about head on collisions.

I think Rugby may have to follow suit one way or the other. I'm not sure what exactly. Maybe lowering the height of a high tackle to chest level rather than shoulders? I don't think anything other making the sport non contact can alleviate the risk completely.

Anyone know if concussion is as big an issue in Rugby League?

aimee1

bilston wrote: »

It was an interesting watch although I wouldn't say I learnt too much I didn't already know other than there has been a decrease in the concussions in NFL since they changed the rules about head on collisions.

I think Rugby may have to follow suit one way or the other. I'm not sure what exactly. Maybe lowering the height of a high tackle to chest level rather than shoulders? I don't think anything other making the sport non contact can alleviate the risk completely.

Anyone know if concussion is as big an issue in Rugby League?

the one thing they said tonight which was of interest was most concussions happen in the tackle, and given how RL has the 10 metre gap for guys to constantly run into contact you would imagine there is issues there too but it never seems to make it into the public domain.

CatFromHue

You have to have a brain to get concussed :pac:

I'm not sure of you can compare the two those because of the 10m gap.

In RL you don't get guys picking and driving for example, or guys trying to bind on an attacker, there's alot of different ways a tackle happens in RU than RL.

OldRio

I know helmet on helmet is outlawed in NFL but the helmet itself can be an issue with brain trauma injuries.
I'm not sure how Rugby can change. If the tackle is outlawed we have no game. How could we tweak the rules?

.ak

I'd say a good 80% of knocks to the head come from when two players go high on an attacker, often it's your own teammate you'll give you a knock! There's a possibility of banning 'high tackles' or soak tackles...

But I think that'd ruin the sport.

I think there's an elephant in the room we're all ignoring. Rugby is a contact sport, when you play it you acknowledge you're probably going to be hurt at some stage. I don't think we can get away from that. I doubt UFC fighters go into the ring thinking they're completely safe.

Either we leave the game as is, perhaps with a few tweaks, or we make the game totally safe but then it's no longer rugby.

bilston

.ak wrote: »

I'd say a good 80% of knocks to the head come from when two players go high on an attacker, often it's your own teammate you'll give you a knock! There's a possibility of banning 'high tackles' or soak tackles...

But I think that'd ruin the sport.

I think there's an elephant in the room we're all ignoring. Rugby is a contact sport, when you play it you acknowledge you're probably going to be hurt at some stage. I don't think we can get away from that. I doubt UFC fighters go into the ring thinking they're completely safe.

Either we leave the game as is, perhaps with a few tweaks, or we make the game totally safe but then it's no longer rugby.

When the lawyers start getting involved I reckon the laws will change.

Akrasia

Eddie Jones was talking about the lack of time the ball is in play in the average game. Basically, in an 80 minute match, the ball is only actually in play for 27 minutes, so this gives players a lot of time to recover stamina and get back into defensive positions and this means there's less space on the pitch and results in more collisions

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/rugby-world-cup/11880057/Rugby-is-moving-in-a-dangerous-direction-warns-Japan-coach-Eddie-Jones.html

Perhaps he's right. Maybe we need a way to create more space on the field. 13 man teams perhaps?

.ak

Akrasia wrote: »

Eddie Jones was talking about the lack of time the ball is in play in the average game. Basically, in an 80 minute match, the ball is only actually in play for 27 minutes, so this gives players a lot of time to recover stamina and get back into defensive positions and this means there's less space on the pitch and results in more collisions

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/rugby-world-cup/11880057/Rugby-is-moving-in-a-dangerous-direction-warns-Japan-coach-Eddie-Jones.html

Perhaps he's right. Maybe we need a way to create more space on the field. 13 man teams perhaps?

I played a 13 vs 13 match a while ago (didn't have enough to make up the numbers).

It's absolutely gruelling, and if anything the tackling is worse, way more sloppy.

I did have fun though, as a winger... But the props looked like they needed ambulances after the game.

Akrasia

.ak wrote: »

I played a 13 vs 13 match a while ago (didn't have enough to make up the numbers).

It's absolutely gruelling, and if anything the tackling is worse, way more sloppy.

I did have fun though, as a winger... But the props looked like they needed ambulances after the game.

Yeah, that's an issue alright, maybe a system where the prop forwards can tap in and out of the game like tag rugby so they can rotate in and out to stay fresh?

wp_rathead

You let your props play a 13 aside?
I'm calling the ISPCP

.ak

wp_rathead wrote: »

You let your props play a 13 aside?
I'm calling the ISPCP

Haha, the best part was it was a young'uns vs golden oldies game just after Christmas.

There were hot whiskeys for some after the game, for others there was an oxygen machine... :pac: