Would school rugby be better if collisions and tackles were banned? Prof Allyson Pollock

Allyson M Pollock is professor of public health and Director of Institute of Health and Society in the Medical Faculty of Newcastle University. She is a public health doctor and has been researching injuries and rugby injuries for more than ten years. She takes what she describes as the ‘child’s perspective’ and asks – Do children know the risks of playing school rugby? Do all schools have appropriate risk mitigation? She reminds us that the health benefits of physical activity are well proven – but if one critically reviews the literature those benefits have not been proven for school rugby. This is a controversial position that is strongly countered by others. BJSM doesn’t have a position in this debate – our job is to highlight that there is a respectful debate and to encourage scrutiny of the existing evidence. We encourage researchers to add new data to this question and similar ones in sport. Links: University of Newcastle Press Release: Prof Pollock’s letter to all 4 Chief Medical officers of the UK: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/news/2017/09/banrugbytackleforkids/ World Rugby’s reply to above call. From The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/sep/26/ban-harmful-contact-from-school-rugby-games-to-reduce-injury-risk-say-experts Professor Pollock’s call to ban tackling in rugby in the BMJ: http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2017/09/25/allyson-pollock-and-graham-kirkwood-tackle-and-scrum-should-be-banned-in-school-rugby/ A reply to Prof Pollock by Dr Ross Tucker and colleagues: http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/50/15/921 Prof Pollock’s reply to World Rugby: http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/15/1113 The BMJ profile of Prof Pollock – “BMJ Confidential” (must have BMJ subscription): http://www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j4625 Prof Pollock’s Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allyson_Pollock