Mark Reason: Is schoolboy rugby now too much of a risk?
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Isaiah Papalii of Mt Albert Grammar is tackled by Tanielu Tele'a of St Kentigern during a First XVs match last August.
ANTHONY AU-YEUNG/GETTY IMAGES
Isaiah Papalii of Mt Albert Grammar is tackled by Tanielu Tele'a of St Kentigern during a First XVs match last August.

OPINION: Our knowledge of schoolboy rugby injury exists in a great black hole of partial information. It's a bit like having dementia. We hope the kids will be all right, but we really aren't sure what's going on any more. I was talking about this to a
16-year-old schoolboy player the other day and his response was violently shocking.

The young man, let's call him Aaron, plays in the Wellington region at the top levels of schoolboy rugby. The previous weekend he had received three head shots in a game. None of them were penalised. There were 10 high tackles in the match. One penalty
was given.

I asked Aaron if this was typical. He paused for thought, flicking back through the 15 or so games he had played so far this season. Aaron estimated there were six-to-seven dangerous head shots per game. Most of them went unpenalised. He had seen abouty
100 head tackles in the season so far and only one card had been issued, although it was red.

Lions lock Alun Wyn Jones is felled after a blow to the head from Jerome Kaino in the third test at Eden Park.
HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES
Lions lock Alun Wyn Jones is felled after a blow to the head from Jerome Kaino in the third test at Eden Park.

In particular the young referees appear to struggle with penalising dangerous play. They are potentially intimidated by the coaches and parents on the sidelines, who are often extremely vocal. Not once had Aaron see a referee insist that a player was
removed with concussion. They had always referred such instances to the coaches, who cannot be viewed as independent observers.

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Aaron said, "Quite a few concussed players don't come off."

Kieran Read and Mako Vunipola receive treatment during the third test.
HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES
Kieran Read and Mako Vunipola receive treatment during the third test.

When I told Aaron that World Rugby quoted research which indicates that young players will experience a concussion once every 11.6 seasons and will miss one week through injury every eight years, he just laughed.

Aaron said he did not know one player in his school who had not missed playing time through injury. He also estimated that there was a concussion every 1-2 matches. That means if his school were to play 30 matches this season, potentially 10 players
would have received a concussion.

The point of Aaron's story is to suggest that injury and concussion rates at schools are far worse than being reported. But it is also to point out that New Zealand Rugby, with its stated aim of zero tolerance around head tackles, is not getting that
message through to the referees. Just the opposite. There appears to be close to absolute tolerance of dangerous tackles.

Jerome Kaino was again yellow-carded for a high tackle against the Sunwolves. PHOTOSPORT
Jerome Kaino was again yellow-carded for a high tackle against the Sunwolves.

Should we be surprised when at the very top level there is still extraordinary tolerance of concussion and violence. In the final test match between the Lions and New Zealand, Kieran Read's head caught hard bone in an attempted tackle. I have had it
suggested to me that Read was probably concussed, but went down clutching his shoulder in order to deflect attention from the point of contact.

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In the second half of that match Alun Wyn Jones was as clearly concussed as a player ever will be. He was off the pitch for 24 minutes. We are told he had an HIA despite being filmed drinking fluid on the sidelines. Wyn Jones then came back on the pitch
when Sam Warburton, who also appeared concussed, went off for an HIA that he passed.

Aaron said to me, "Alun Wyn Jones was knocked out. He was completely knocked out and he managed to get back on. That shocked me."

Is it any wonder that schoolboy rugby has such a worrying lack of vigilance when they see what goes on at the top level. I know that some senior World Rugby officials are horrified by what happened in the third test, but as usual they have said nothing
and done nothing.

Jerome Kaino perpetrated the tackle on Jones that concussed him. The following week Kaino put his shoulder into a Japanese player's head. Two yellow cards in around 30 minutes of playing time, but no further sanctions. Why not? Ngani Laumape puts his
shoulder into an opponent's jaw and the TMO tells us it is not even worth a penalty. Again New Zealand Rugby says and does nothing publicly.

This is the void into which concerned healthcare officials like Allyson Pollock have stepped. Pollock has called for a ban on tackle rugby in schools because it is the main cause of injury and because she claims that rugby has the highest level of
concussion among youth team sports.

She quotes two polls carried out by the British Medical Journal in which 65 per cent of doctors thought that the rules of rugby should be changed to make it safer and 72 per cent thought that school rugby should be safer.

When Pollock first raised her objections World Rugby was in such a hurry to rebut them that it brought out a paper in which it absurdly claimed that netball had a higher rate of injury than rugby. They read the stats wrong. Some of the paper was valid
but it ended up looking ridiculous.

Ken Quarrie, a scientist who works for NZR, has since published a more objective paper in the BMJ that asks the key question of what we as a society view as an acceptable level of risk. And our perception is malleable. We are prepared to take on a level
of risk 1000 times higher in a voluntary activity than in a compulsory one.

There are two areas in which Quarrie and I are in complete agreement. The tackle height urgently needs to be lowered below the nipple line and there is a need for thorough surveillance of the rates of injury and concussion in schoolboy rugby in this
country, because at the moment the statistics are not close to good enough.

This will take government funding. Oh dear. Quarrie once applied for a research grant in a similar area and was rejected because he was a member of a sporting body and not a university. Say what? But as Pollock points out, under the " United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 19), governments have a duty to protect children from risks of injury."

At the moment our government does not even have a clue what that risk is, so they are certainly not in a position to assess it. They make us all wear cycle helmets, but encourage a national sport that in certain areas still glorifies head hunting.
Perhaps ministers don't want to know. But until we find out more, the onus is urgently on NZR to enforce zero tolerance, particularly among the referees of schoolboy matches.

Before each game the referees should be required to listen to a recording of Jerome Garces, the French referee who sent off Sonny Bill Williams, saying, "I need to protect the player, head, neck."

The referees should then be instructed to speak to the players before every school game and say that the first high tackle will receive a minimum sanction of a penalty and all subsequent high tackles will attract at least a yellow card. If we wait for
World Rugby to stop sitting on their brains and lower the legal tackle height, we will all have dementia by then.

- Sunday Star Times


whats changed in the last 3 decades to have so many more head high tackles?
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292 days ago
TheClaw
You do know that if tacklers are forced to aim lower, there will be more concussions, not less, right? You do know that far more concussions are the result of the tackler's head making contact with the tackled players knee or hip, than the result of a
swinging arm to the head of the tacked player, right?
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292 days ago
swivel
I wonder if the game would be better off with just penalizing anything getting above the shoulders, even it if is the shoulder, do away with harsher penalties when the tackle goes wrong. Penalties are far easier to dish out and take, put the yellow and
red cards back to resulting cause/effect of the tackle and foul play situations.

Being penalized more often in a game is probably more likely to see coaches change their attitude too, because clearly now they are still asking their players to risk getting carded. Tacklers shoulders have to be below the runners, or not used in the
tackle.
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292 days ago
JoeSmith
have to agree with some parts. They should also have flag rugby running for adults during the winter for people who dont like the contact but love the other parts of rugby.
1 reply+1

292 days ago
Steve-Joss Hale
Not sure how popular Flag would be running parallel to rugby season. Could always play Touch... Which most rugby players do every Summer.
0

292 days ago
Brian55
At a under 13 game a few weeks ago a player was red carded for kicking by a referee in his mid teens, the boys coach marches on the field and really gave the ref what for sad example for his young charges
2 replies+1

292 days ago
JoeSmith
you shouldn't be giving red cards in an under 13 match as there still kids and learning.
1 reply-3

292 days ago
Brian55
What rubbish , shall we let the little darlings kick people and whatever you may allow them to do with limited consequences then? The kid kicked a player in the head should the referee have said dont do that and carry on!!! get real Joe
+1

292 days ago
BasilBrush
I don't know who Aaron is. I'm a luke warm supporter of Rugby and prefer league. But as my son plays for his school, I watch a lot of school boy Rugby in Wellington. I would say that head shots are penalized fairly rigorously at local level and I have
never seen a game where 6-7 head shots go unpenalised.
+3

292 days ago
Kiwi Canook
In the article you say research is needed and then present none. Not a single piece of verifiable evidence here. I agree that rugby, league and other high contact sports are creating problems... but you get paid to produce this Mark and as a '
journalist' how about you start stepping up to the mark and producing something more telling than opinion after opinion.
+6

292 days ago
rugbyaddict
Your comment is awaiting moderation
Majority of this article is based on the opinion of a 16yr old so I am not convinced we can take it seriously. As a coach at u18 level, I have been impressed with how referees have issued blue cards and I do not remember too many incidents where a
referee did not protect a player.
+3

293 days ago
oldskoolkiwi
good article bang on thnks
-1

293 days ago
Icy_mitch
I think one of the issues is lack of knowledge on head injuries. In the article you say research is needed. One condition of scientific experiment is that participants are informed. Players should realise the damage they can do by targeting the head.
0

293 days ago
peter.alchemy
Wow, sounds like a drastic overhaul of refereeing standards is needed in schoolboy rugby.

Rugby can be a very dangerous sport, if referees do not do their job properly, as it seems they are not.

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293 days ago
Mainlander
Been 40 years since I played schoolboys rugby and unless attitudes have changed the contest was generally clean with no head hunting. Concussions were also extremely rare and my own experience during five years of senior footy had one concussion. Garces
wasn't too concerned about protecting Barrett when Vunipola launched himself at a player rolling away from the contact zone.
2 replies0

293 days ago
Giants Fan
40 years ago there was much more violence as in punching ,kicking and rucking peoples heads plus safety was not well controlled in scrums so more chance of serious injury then.Violence could not be penalised by linesman then.
Now days the players much stronger and muscled up ,Id hate to be in the front row now.Also the tackling has changed ,tackling now much higher and prone to slip up and contact the head.I had just turned 15 and had to play under 20 against Uni students and
labourers so got a lot of hidings and in 1 of first senior games got punched in face 21 times cos I counted them.
1 reply0

292 days ago
Mainlander
The ugly part of rugby is the main reason I stopped playing the game. When players punch,kick and ruck at the head of players then they're committing assault. The worst was having one of your own forwards doing this on the blindside of the referee. Agree
the high hits have increased with the aim of tying up the ball preventing offloads. Not sure about the hype of players being bigger /stronger the best hits are usually a combination of speed and technique. At 80 kgs I usually was 15-20 kgs lighter than
my opposite - pretty sure that's why Steve Hansen kepted trying to run over the top of me in a colts rep game.
+1

293 days ago
GottaSay
Secondary school rugby is organised by very intelligent and highly qualified buffoons. Staff can specify the hair length of their pupils but when their charges are pitted against boys twice (or more) their size and weight, they expect them to do their
utmost for the school. The boys will do their best - but who's kidding who? Surely it's time for the "educators" to accept a modicum of responsibility? NAME AND SHAME
1 reply-2

293 days ago
Chris of Nelson
Sorry but that is totally unfounded nonsense
+5

293 days ago
Ruz
High school age rugby players the size of grown men, and presumably focused on making a career out of pro rugby. And the schools will do anything to get these players including stealing them.
1 reply+3

293 days ago
Chris of Nelson
And your point about concussion is? Do you have information that there is a correlation between larger players and the concussion rate?
+3

293 days ago
mrchaotiq
The question was "is it worth it?" The answer is undeniably NO. I mean weigh it up, on one hand you can potentially win a game which requires you to put a ball over a line more than the other guys, which is great and you'll be a champion etc. On the
other hand you're looking at injuries that will require time off school or work or more serious life altering injuries or even death. The risk vs reward of Union or League just doesn't make sense at all. The argument of anything being dangerous therefore
why not do this exponentially more dangerous thing too is also silly, if you're relying on this argument you're really grasping at straws.
2 replies-3

293 days ago
Chris of Nelson
Most things in life carry risk. Should we ban bicycles because many people fall off them? Soccer players risk head damage for the obvious reasons and wow hockey, now that takes the cake particularly when you have a crazy lady running around with a big
stick
+2

292 days ago
swivel
You are grasping at straws when you a) don't know injury rates, and b) don't understand the effects of said injuries. Don't expect anybody to listen to you when you post ridiculous statements like "undeniable".
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293 days ago
Peet
My cousin got killed playing rugby (broken neck very high up) donkey years ago as a teenager - before rugby administrators first began looking at the reasons behind injuries and changing rules to give players more protection in scrums and rucks. Been a
lot of changes since then. Turned me off encouraging my offspring into the game for life. Your article convinces me I made the correct decision.
+2

293 days ago
Fry Bread
And who is supposedly counting these huge numbers of "high" tackles that are happening in school rugby. The teams that are losing? The teams that are not as good as their opponents? I have seen about 9 1st XV games this season, and have only seen one
high tackle.



And Sonny Bills "tackle" was nothing of the sort. It was a lazy and reckless shoulder charge and had more to do with his mindset than any part of the game.



And as for the red herring of "governments have a duty to protect children from the risks of injury", then why dont we stop children walking, running, painting, playing, skipping, riding in cars, swimming or any number of things which can also cause
injury. Why not? Because everyone knows and accepts that a contact sport, just like anything we do, can be dangerous. By participating, or even living, we accept the risks areoutweighed by the benefits.

+9

293 days ago
Mull1BG
Big Bretts been hit on the head to many times.
Everyone need to up there game on this issue for the good of the sport.
We can still have a great physical contest and protect all players.
+1

293 days ago
Mumof7
My oldest son got to rep level at school but quit in his last year after deciding that the number of head knocks was 'not worth it'. He had a few games off nearly every season after 'bad and aggressive tackles' which was a shame as He loved playing and
misses it still but thankfully was educated enough in the long term effects of concussion to decide for himself to stop playing. Not everyone is the same and I wonder how many people we will see in a few years time who have long lasting effects from
repeated head injuries from sport.
+3

293 days ago
cliffster
School rugby has been around for a longtime,but not the thuggery that has crept into it.
1 reply+11

293 days ago
charlie
NAILED IT!!!

...smashed em bro!

says enuff about NZ thugby! (how many years and crippled kids did it take for NZ rugby to FINALLY change to the new weight grades for youth...and they went kicking and screaming about that change!..cos THUGBY!!)

ps...NZ won the world softball champs...again!...for the 7th time!!...but not that we would have heard about,,,cos NOT thugby!
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293 days ago
Gavin Packie
Enjoy Rugby while you can - because within a decade it will be over. No business in New Zealand can survive with lax health and safety standards and soon this will extend to sporting administration. And why shouldn't it? If a game is inherently dangerous
and getting more so with size / speed etc the people running the sport need to be held to account. Mark my words - it is on the way out.
-2

293 days ago
metarzan
Font blame the ref's for not penalising. Players know the rules in regards to this, yet carry on. The coaches need to deal with it also. The supporters, parents and players also need to deal with it. Comments like 'smash em', 'hurt him', 'kill him', have
no place in the game.
+8

293 days ago
Twistedrazors
Since your only mentioning ABs let me mention Sean O'Brien's swinging arm into Naholo that concussed him and forced him to leave the field. That was ignored by four on field officials and was let go at a citing hearing for no reason and Kaino got
yellow carded for exactly the same tackle in the 3rd test.

Problem is with school boy rugby is there is no experts at hand to test for concussions. It relies on refs and coaches who have no idea and are afraid to make a call. tests and super rugby have team doctors who make concussion assessments. They are not
viable for school boy 1st 15 and the multitude lower grad matches.
The same refs are scared of being bashed by nutty parents of they start enforcing head shots,.
1 reply+3


293 days ago
Steve-Joss Hale
Schoolboy rugby does have clear protocols though. If any player suffers a suspected head knock and leaves the field he is given a mandatory 23 day stand down pending medical assessment. All registered coaches in NZ attend the compulsory preseason NZRU
Rugby Smart safety courses run by provincial RDOs and understand their obligations and responsibilities.
+6

293 days ago
naki_proud
The only part i agree with is the inexperienced refs who control schoolboy rugby.

I question whether this "Aaron" is actually a real person and I also wonder why there is no reference to Courtney Lawes concussions after being knocked out playing the highlanders and playing the following week and the high shot on by Sean O'Brien?
Interesting that Naholo wasnt played the following week yet Lawes did.

Also in reference to being hit by a shoulder when attempting a tackle would suggest the tackler is going too high to start with.
1 reply+5

293 days ago
steverw
In the NH inexperienced refs adjudicate at All Black test matches
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1 reply

293 days ago
MJR11
Exactly, would be great if he truly believed in this crusade and was consistent but blaming the Kiwi players for others playing on with concussion and then blaming the Kiwi players for playing on when they're concussed means he loses the focus on his
supposed point and delivers a simple message Kiwi players are to blame for everything.
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293 days ago
Steve-Joss Hale
I've found exactly the opposite to be happening in my experience of coaching at secondary school level. NZRU and provincial unions are being hugely proactive over Concussion. Any player with a suspected head knock gets a 23 day stand down even if player
later visits doctor who clears them. Head knocks are noted in referees reports meaning that players name can not feature on an NZRU team sheet for next three Saturdays. Where is Reason drawing his conclusions from?
3 replies+15

293 days ago
Chris of Nelson
That is my experience as well Steve. My U18 team has had two players blue carded following a head clash and we have stood down two players who we believed MAY have been concussed (not picked up by referee) but in all probability were not but safety comes
first. The game is certainly no different or rugged today than it was when I played first 15 over 45 years ago, apart from the absence of the lack of ability to ruck in the game today
+7

293 days ago
Darkwyr
And that is the one thing I do have an issue with. As it stands, a ref or other official is making a medical call. Something they are not qualified to do. It means that coaches or parents are much less likely to report a potential concussion because if
they do, it's an automatic stand down. It means that the opposition could take out a player they perceive to be a threat by yelling the big "C" word loudly enough. I realize that some doctors might feel pressured to clear a player that isn't ready to
play again but having unqualified people making an arbitrary call isn't the answer either. Maybe we could have NZRU accredited doctors that can make the call. Doctors that the Rugby Union are satisfied have the proper qualifications, knowledge and
equipment.
1 reply+1

293 days ago
Steve-Joss Hale
In my experience Darkwyr refs and coaches are erring on the side of caution which is sensible. They're not saying the player is concussed, they're saying he could be concussed or he could have sustained a head injury and choosing to take him from the
field. We had three fourteen year old boys in the team I coached last year sit out the mandatory 23 days because I chose to take them off the field during a game. I believe the vast majority of coaches have the players best interests at heart, if they
don't they shouldn't be coaching. When I played school and senior rugbh it was quite common for players to be knocked unconscious and stay on the field. I believe the game is much safer now than it was two years ago due to NZRUs efforts.
0

293 days ago
Matt.Welly
I was at an Under 11 match a couple of weeks ago when one of the kids was bending down to pick up a loose ball and was tackled by two defenders. When he stood up he didn't where he was, took two steps and crashed face first to the ground. It was
sickening!
Parents on the sideline were grinning and commenting he got the 'Sonny Bill' treatment and every the boys coach who helped him off the field said he will be alright, he was just winded. We had to intervene and suggest to his parents who hadn't seen the
incident that they should get him seen.
This wasn't a deliberate head high but highlights how dangerous it can be when they just dive into the tackle.
2 replies+1

293 days ago
Twistedrazors
My as yet unborn son wont be playing school rugby. its dominated b thug parents.
1 reply-2

292 days ago
FitzChivalry
Thanks for the massive generalisations. They are really useful....
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1 reply

292 days ago
FitzChivalry
Or perhaps there have always been the same amount but now they are actually reported. Like the domestic abuse crime stats go up when there are campaigns to increase reporting.
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1 reply

293 days ago
Darkwyr
Odd that you got down voted. It would seem that some love to see a player knocked out cold with a potentially life altering injury. Come on people, do you really want see that??
+1

293 days ago
don draper
While there may well be a genuine issue here, it is not credible to extrapolate statistics and the premise of your whole argument from the opinions of one 16 year old. Why didn't you do some proper research?
1 reply+16

293 days ago
Chris of Nelson
particularly when the quoted player probably does not exist if the truth was known, a figment of Reason's vivid and flawed imagination
+7

293 days ago
J P
Aaron huh? When journo's don't cite source names the story can't be accepted as factual.
+9

293 days ago
Chrisgriffin
This article is top notch piece of journalism!!! Schoolboy rugby union in NZ is ridiculous especially the importing of polyesian players that weigh around 100 kgs!! The importing of foreigners has got to stop. Young schoolboys eventually will stop
playing rugby if it becomes too dangerous to play against giants. Auckland these days is made up of different nationalities but how many choose rugby as a sport? NZ rugby has got to have weight restrictions for schoolboy rugby and that number should be
under 85 kgs and that would cut down the injuries, cut down imports from overseas and bring smaller still developing youngsters into the game. ......
2 replies-11

293 days ago
Steve-Joss Hale
Your post reads as blatant racism. My children are third generation NZ born Tongans as are the vast majority of our PI players.

85kg? Seriously? I played 1st XV rugby nearly thirty years ago in rural NZ and half our forward pack weighed over 100kg.
+8

293 days ago
Chris of Nelson
Chris perhaps you do not know much about rugby, little guys are just as able to cause a concussion as bigger guys
+2

294 days ago
FitzChivalry
Where were your concerns when Lions players came back on after serious looking head knocks and then miraculously played the next week? Also, are you a doctor?
+10

294 days ago
rocky balboa
Not a big fan of Mark Reason but this may very well be one of his best pieces. Hopefully this article isn't written off as alarmist sensationalism.
1 reply-10

293 days ago
CrusHaders4Life
Its alarmist sensationalism.

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