Public health professor

Allyson Pollock says school rugby is dangerous, but ex-England hooker Brian

Moore argues the benefits outweigh the risks

Thousands more children could be seriously

injured playing rugby because of the Government's ‘worrying’ plans to promote

the sport in schools, a public health expert has claimed. Professor Allyson

Pollock, of Queen Mary University of London, said that youngsters were

regularly harmed playing the sport but warned that levels of injury were not

being properly monitored.

The government has pledged to increase the

prominence of competitive sports and is encouraging schools to link up with

local rugby clubs.

However Professor Pollock said figures showed that

one in eight children suffers an injury serious enough to be kept of the pitch

for seven days in a season. She called for injury surveillance and prevention programs

to be established without schools. “Given that children are more susceptible to

injuries such as concussion and often take longer to fully recover, the

government’s plan is worrying,” said Prof Pollock, writing in the British

Medical Journal. “Not enough is being done by the government to put in place

injury monitoring and prevention strategies. “Only by collecting injury data

and by providing feedback to individuals and organizations working on safety

initiatives will the short and long term impact of injury prevention programs,

whether for rugby or any other sport, be known.”

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About Allyson Polloclk’s and Brian Moore’s points of view...

The Government wants to...

How many chidren have to stop playing rugby for a week during the

season, because of an injury?

According to Alysson Pollock, what should the government do ?