BMJ  2007;334:1235 (16 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39241.446030.3A

Letters

Safer play in rugby

Time to address safety in the tackle

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

As an amateur rugby referee who spent the 2005 season refereeing in New Zealand and took part in the RugbySmart campaign I was interested to read the analysis by Quarrie et al of its impact on spinal injuries.1 As they point out, most of the reduction in injuries was accounted for by a reduction in scrum related injuries. Whether a similar campaign would be equally effective in Britain is unclear, given the recent 2006 changes in the scrum engagement procedure; but as pointed out in the accompanying editorial it can certainly do no harm.2

The paper highlighted another area of concern; seven out of eight spinal injuries occurred at the tackle. Over the past 10 years there has been an increase in the high impact, chest high "ball and all" tackle. This area of the game is now associated with the most injuries,3 and this type of tackle puts the . . . [Full text of this article]

Alastair P Greystoke, research fellow, medical oncology

Paterson Institute of Cancer Research, University of Manchester, Manchester M20 4BX

agreystoke@picr.man.ac.uk


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