Rugby, the most dangerous sport in the world?
In 2014, Newcastle Knights announced that Alex McKinnon has a serious spinal injury which can take him 2 years to recover from. The Wales hooker’s Richard Hibbard had a sad career ending injury in Feb 2016. The Bath flanker, Lewis Moody continued his career despite suffering permanent eye damage in October 2010. These were the list of some horrible injuries that happened while playing rugby in the last decade. In this article, we’ll discuss if rugby is a safe sport to play and should parents be concerned about their kids playing rugby at college or school.
Is rugby union the most dangerous sport in the world?
In order to answer this question, it is important to consider the rate of injuries by the number of people playing the sport, as well as the severity of the injuries involved. For instance: According to The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), AFL and soccer have a higher number of injuries in Australia compared to that of rugby union, but in soccer’s case this is due to the high participation rate. You might be surprised but Wheeled motor sports (e.g. quadbikes, motorcycles, go-karts) have the highest injury rate by participation. Besides, cycling has the highest percentage of threat to life cases. Therefore, according to statistics, rugby union is actually not the most dangerous sport in the world. Cycling, wheeled motor sports, AFL & soccer have a higher number of injuries and death rates compared to rugby union. However, is it fair to say that the injuries in rugby union are far worse than any other sport because of the severe tackles that happens in the game?
Are injuries in rugby union do more harm to body than other sports?
Rugby union is a high-impact collision sport, in which players have to face extreme pressure in order to receive and maintain possession of the ball and injuries are quite frequent in rugby union. For example, some studies shows that the chance of a player missing the whole season due to an injury is 90%. Concussion, neck and head injuries are quite common in rugby union, which can put players in the risk of Parkinson’s disease and neurological conditions in the future, while the injuries that happens in AFL and soccer are mainly lower limb injuries like broken legs and ACL. Furthermore, the fact that rugby league and union players do not wear helmets can contribute to the high risk of head and neck injuries, specially during scrum that can place a massive amount of pressure on player’s neck.
Should parents allow their kids to play rugby at school?
Back in 2018, 15 year old Alexander Clark was rushed to hospital after sustaining a serious neck injury while playing rugby union at Brisbane’s Nudgee College. This incident made a lot of parents concern about their kids safety and health while playing rugby at college or school. However, It goes without saying that playing sports at school play an important role in kids’ health and wellbeing. Dr Rafa said in his interview with ABC Australia, that what parents need to be worry about is when their kids actually stop playing sports and he also urged parents to remind their kids that playing sport is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and it can actually reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke later in the life, which is the number one thing that’s going to kill man. In a nutshell, in the world we are living now there is a huge epidemic of depression and anxiety in the population, which can increase the risk of heart diseases in the future and a great solution to this problem is playing sports and being with your mates. There is always a risk of injury in every sport but the fact is that the injury rate is most sports are very low.
In conclusion, although there is always a chance of having a career end injury in rugby, we cannot rank this sport as the most dangerous sport in the world. According to data and statistics, rugby has a lower number of injury rates in Australia compared to other sports like AFL, soccer, cycling and wheeled motorsports.
