Should Rugby Be Banned?

Rugby is a popular sport played in countries all over the world across both genders and is one of the world’s fastest growing sports for women (Nauright, 2019). However, this is controversy as to whether the sport should be banned due to concerns over the safety of the sport and the risks associated.

Below are a list of reasons why the sport should be banned:

  • There is a 6% – 90% chance of a player getting injured playing rugby union (Freitag, Kirkwood, Scharer, Ofori-Asenso & Pollock, 2015)
  • A 68% – 96% chance of a player getting injured playing rugby league (Freitag, et al 2015)
  • Rugby players are at an increased risk of concussion (0.2 – 6.9 concussions per 1000 player-hours for rugby union & 4.6 – 14.7 per 1000 player-hours for rugby league) (Freitag, et al 2015)
  • Negative impact on an individuals education (Pollock, White & Kirkwood, 2017)
  • Increase in violent behaviour (Pollock, et al 2017)
  • Increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (Pollock, et al 2017)

However in contrast, these are some reasons why it should not be banned:

Rugby helps players to…
Build strength (3)
Increases self-confidence (3)
Build discipline (3)
Improve mental state (3)
Build resilience (3)
Improves social skills (4)
To conclude, further research is required into the effects of rugby on a players health and maybe further rules need to be put in place with age restrictions to protect the safety of younger players, without banning it for everyone.
———————————————————————————————————————————
References:
Freitag, A., Kirkwood, G., Scharer, S., Ofori-Asenso, R., & Pollock, A. . (2015). Systematic review of rugby injuries in children and adolescents under 21 years. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 49, 511–519.

Nauright, J. (2019). rugby | History & Rules. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/sports/rugby

Pollock, A., & Kirkwood, G. (2017). Tackle and scrum should be banned in school rugby. The British Medical Journal Opinion.

Revolution, H. fitness. (2015). Top 10 Health Benefits of Rugby.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *