Rugby union’s new “waist and below” tackle rule won’t work

Sometimes one could be forgiven for forming the view that some newsworthy developments just couldn’t be made up if one was writing fiction.

It’s just been announced that – in effect – in the the amateur version of rugby union in England, tackles must now be made at waist height or below, this decree introduced in order to minimise and/or avoid the chances of an injury to a player’s head.

Nobody is denying that head traumas – not least concussion and/or similar damage caused by repeated blows to the head over time – are a huge problem for the sport because of its essential physical contact nature.

No rule of the game, no any amount of referee or other official “supervision”, is going to remove the dangers faced by anyone who ever takes up playing rugby union.

The only way to remove such risks from sports like rugby and/or boxing would be to ban them altogether – end of message.

Here’s a link to an excellent piece by Michael Aylwin that I spotted today upon the website of – THE GUARDIAN