How bad boy
Full Member
Yeah, scrums aren't even close to as dangerous as they used to be. I've posted it before, but it's worth noting how much the scrum changed.I think even before this there was plenty of other issues with scrums spinal injuries etc that put parents off sending kids. Plenty of parents mine included put me off Rugby as the chance of getting knocked about were higher than other sports but just mother’s here say.I did do boxing /kick boxing but was in my teens and no longer listened to my mother at that stage
No doubt these reports and the Welsh lad will be a big put off for some.
The hit was insane by 2005, the touch made things better, reducing the distance between teams, with the major change coming in 2014 with the pre-bind, it's hard to stress how much safer that made the scrum. no more sitting in the corner of the pub post match with bleeding shoulders and a neck in spasm.
But CTE is scary when you find out about the theory on how it works, essentially the body attacks the brain, and there is no way of diagnosing it until you have it (or you die and they can cut up your brain...). Spine injuries can be diagnosed and treated, they're obvious. Brain injuries are not.
We won't know anything for certain about how bad it truly is in rugby for probably over 25 years unless that diagnosis approach works. The earliest professional players are really only in their mid 50s now, way too early to get a proper long term gauge on the impact.
Fundamentally, it's very different to spinal injuries.