Kids Like Playing Rugby. So They Shouldn’t Be Allowed To.

This may be today’s most infuriating “story”:

Rugby scrums should be banned in schools to protect children involved in a sport which is “not safe enough” for them, an expert has warned. Professor Allyson Pollock, director of Edinburgh University’s Centre for International Public Health Policy, called for the ban after research into child injuries.

The study was carried out during 190 rugby matches at five schools. There were 37 injuries recorded, with 20 taken to accident and emergency. The tackle was the “commonest phase of play causing injury” with the head and face the most injured body part, along with sprains or ligament damage.

Prof Pollock, one of the study’s authors, said: “High tackles and scrums should be banned. The sport is not safe enough for schoolchildren and not enough is being done to protect the safety of children. We know that most injuries occur in tackles and the scrum so there have got to be much greater safety measures in these areas.”

She said moderating play may change rugby, but it was better to have a safe game than a dangerous one.