It doesn't at all. You're just picking the opposite side of the discussion and sticking to it. They don't know what the impacts are for modern players with todays regulations. If rugby can't be played then MMA, boxing, football, WWE, horse riding. Why are you even on here if you don't want the sport to be played?
I do want the game to be played but with rules that make it as safe as it can be. No element of risk can be totally eliminated obviously but it can be reduced or mitigated. I agree that boxing and MMA are very dangerous and my son is a martial artist. I won’t let him do it until he’s 18. Then he can choose himself. However, he wants a career as a scientist so CTE would make that impossible. Horse riding and football are far less risky than rugby, American Football, and boxing.
I think a return to traditional tackling techniques and reducing to 5 yards at the PTB, along with wearing these new protective headbands and reducing the number of games per season would make a big difference. But every professional player must decide to play the game at their own risk or not play at all
I believe the game used to be much better to watch than it is now. That’s a personal opinion. The science is not a personal opinion. You can disbelieve it if you want to but you can also believe the world is flat and we float through space on the back of a giant turtle. You don’t have to value the science if you don’t like it
Nobody is picking an opposite side of the discussion and sticking with it.
Just have a listen to the Ted Talk mentioned, so much more is known than only 3 years ago. It is not just blunt force trauma as in knockouts but sub concussions and their cumulative effects.
Everyone posting on here wants the sport to be played and has its best collective interests at heart, who knows maybe a few rule changes will be for the better. There will be changes the law people will decide that.
Just to make it easier for anyone who hasn’t seen the Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXn-okL2rfs
It’s over 18 minutes but well worth it. The bit about the headband almost sounds like a sales pitch but if there’s the remotest chance it does what it claims, I think the governing bodies of all contact sports should make them compulsory. It might be more effective than changing rules about tackling etc.
I presume researchers are modelling the effects of various contact sport impacts on the brain. If rule changes result from expert analysis, I won’t moan about them.
Last edited by Suttoner; 23rd January 2023 at 10:01. Reason: PS The headbands seem to sell for about £90.
The headband has been trialled by some RU clubs but can’t be used in games, only training. It has to be replaced laced if damaged or after 24 months. Who knows whether it gives the claimed 60% protection but it’s worth trialling in our sport.