England rugby tackle law change.

From next season – below the sternum for community rugby. Got it – accept and move on – until any revisions come.

Does that imply that top and chop 2 person tackle is gonna get a lot harder to perform legally?

Defenders heads are going to be closer together and closer to carriers knees. I can see danger there. Therefore would you train it/coach it less for the safety of your own players?

Defenders heads are going to be closer together and closer to carriers knees. I can see danger there. Therefore would you train it/coach it less for the safety of your own players?

If you do you’ll get a lot of red cards. The calculation is that despite the likely increased proximity to knees the net effect will be a reduction in concussions and therefore increased safety for your players. The result of the rule change will be closely examined in follow up studies.
Ross Tucker covers it pretty well in this podcast, it’s well worth a listen.

BTW, the podcast is “The Real Science Of Sport” S05 E02, just in case my linking is as shoddy as usual!

Absolute shock. Councils members failed to represent their clubs, RFU failed to listen to their players (customers). Amateur rugby is not a hotbed of concussions. We are witnessing the death or more cynically the killing of the community game. But hey, at least there were 50k at Twickers to watch the women win a grand slam for the umpteenth time in a row.

I suspect the RFU are ashamed about the demographics of an average rugby club, so would rather get rid of it.

Much thanks will give a listen.

I meant ‘don’t teach top and chop’.

Just trying to work out how the game play will be effected. Lots of offload traning for sure

Interesting to see this in Rugby.

The no header rule in football was implemented, and kind of was observed for a bit by coaches, but has slowly slipped back in.

The difficulty is there is no way to hold people accountable unless you have regulatory body going around matches and training to see if it is happening.

I have stood at the side of countless football pitches with people saying they shouldn’t be doing it, but no one will say anything for fear of it hindering their child’s progression.

I’d suggest there are easier fixes within the current rules

Ruck, make sure the defending players are supporting their own weight and not bridging. Brings contact height up.

The difficulty is there is no way to hold people accountable unless you have regulatory body going around matches and training to see if it is happening.

Weird, I’d have thought given that children can claim liability for injury caused when young until at least their 21st birthday the insurers would be all over this, or are they seeing it as not their problem and coaches will be liable?  I can imagine that in 10 years time a skint 20 yr old will get an ad saying “Did your coach let you you head the ball, No win no fee”.

I have stood at the side of countless football pitches with people saying they shouldn’t be doing it, but no one will say anything for fear of it hindering their child’s progression.

I’m surprised at that – I don’t go to kids football matches but I’ve been to other sports and its far from unusual for parents to be vocal to coaches about what the kids should/shouldn’t be doing.  Are these parents all former players themselves? either conditioned to believe “it did me no harm” or slightly brain damaged so they can’t see it might be a good idea to follow the safety rules?

From next season – below the sternum for community rugby.

It’s been a long time since I was taught to play rugby, so this is a genuine question, but wasn’t this ^ always the case at lower levels?

Amateur rugby is not a hotbed of concussions.

It doesn’t seem to be much of an issue in the semi-pro (or SH rugby) that I tend to watch either. When they happen they tend to get penalised more consistently than in the highest levels of the British leagues.

I’d suggest there are easier fixes within the current rules

Ruck, make sure the defending players are supporting their own weight and not bridging. Brings contact height up.

Absolutely agree. I think the issue is a far wider one than just poor tackling, and is probably linked to the unnecessary impacts of huge man on huge man in rucks, mauls, etc. The rules are all there to reduce the problem, just not used unless they are in vogue for a season.

Are these parents all former players themselves? either conditioned to believe “it did me no harm” or slightly brain damaged so they can’t see it might be a good idea to follow the safety rules?

No it’s a fear of speaking out may hinder your kids future prospects in the game

Our u16 team have had 3 concussions this season.

Knee to the head, straight arm and a head to head. I wasn’t there to see the h2h.

Its not just the occasional big impacts that cause the issues.  Its the repeated small impacts.  rugby has to do something to stop the flood of head injuries

the “choke tackle” is relatively new following changes around the maul laws – use it or lose it.

Reffing is going to be interesting next season, thats for sure! I like to keep the game flowing, but can see many many stoppages ahead… or maybe there will just be fewer tackles, so more a more running game… hard to predict, so we’ll see.

Knee to the head, straight arm and a head to head. I wasn’t there to see the h2h.

I think that was me in an average season. I also had back of head to (hard) ground and ‘no idea what happened.’
The knee to head stuff is presumably going to increase?

Its not just the occasional big impacts that cause the issues.  Its the repeated small impacts.  rugby has to do something to stop the flood of head injuries

Surely then, the obvious answer is lightweight head protection, no? Obviously that doesn’t work with any impact with rotational forces, but a lightweight semi- net-type of covering using d3o as the impact absorber would work? I don’t watch much rugby, but I’ve seen plenty of players wearing light head protection, why isn’t it mandatory?

If this guy thinks he needs protection, then surely all professional players should wear it.

Not sure if you know the significance of that guy and headgear (bit of a God in these parts) but a good call.

IANAE but I thought I read that headgear protects against external trauma but doesn’t help much with the concussive impact to the brain. Which is why American football players have major issues despite still wearing massive crash helmets

The light head coverings might stop your ears being ripped off but they can’t prevent the brain from rattling around during every collision.

IANAE but I thought I read that headgear protects against external trauma but doesn’t help much with the concussive impact to the brain. Which is why American football players have major issues despite still wearing massive crash helmets

On the radio this week there was a discussion to this effect. The soft ‘helmets’ slow the impact which reduces the internal trauma, whereas the hard helmets are bad because they don’t reduce the internal impact as much plus they give the wearer the perception of greater protection than they actually afford.

Amateur rugby is not a hotbed of concussions

Hmmm, my father in law played amateur rugby extensively through the 80s, 90s and 00s. At 72 he’s currently dying from concussion induced dementia, all his contemporary front row team mates are already dead from the same. Every. Single. One.

It’s utterly heartbreaking that a sport which brought him so much joy is now destroying him.

Anything, at all, to reduce impacts and their downstream, long-term consequences has to be a good thing.

That’s really sad.

‘Ice Guardians’ is a good watch, it’s about ice hockey, but talks at length on the subject of concussions.
Summary: it’s not just head hits that need watching.
American football was one of the examples cited.

Amateur rugby is not a hotbed of concussions. We are witnessing the death or more cynically the killing of the community game…I suspect the RFU are ashamed about the demographics of an average rugby club, so would rather get rid of it.

What do you mean about the demographics? In the south of England it’s pretty snooty at club level. Is it different elsewhere?

I grew up playing (shit) tackle rugby and quite liked it, but our family has dropped out of our local rugby club now our kid’s age grade has started playing tackle. He doesn’t like it and I see it as just too dangerous, given what we know now about brain injuries (let alone broken noses and twisted ankles). He will do other sports now.

As an aside – the fact that even a single concussion can be really serious makes the Athelston scenes all the more sad. These guys are repeatedly punching and kicking each other in the head – really hard.

What do you mean about the demographics? In the south of England it’s pretty snooty at club level. Is it different elsewhere?

Where I played and grew up it was a mix of all types. Farmers, roofers, lawyers, council workers, teachers. Definitely not snooty.