Rugby is heading towards “a new normal”, writes Paul Lewis. Photo / File
Rugby is heading towards “a new normal”, writes Paul Lewis. Photo / File
OPINION:
There are, in the Guardian interview with former English amateur rugby player Alex Abbey, sentiments expressed which may make all who love rugby (even in its current form) accept that change is inevitable — unpopular change.
Now 55 non-elite players in the UK have begun legal actionagainst the RFU, Wales Rugby and World Rugby, a second major lawsuit following that of many elite players, including former All Black prop Carl Hayman.
The amateurs accuse the rugby bodies of negligence in protecting them from brain injuries during playing careers. They say they have suffered a range of neurological impairments because of concussive and sub-concussive blows suffered while playing the sport.
Abbey says he suffered 18 concussions, now sometimes loses control of bladder and bowel functions and suspects he has CTE (a diagnosis can only be confirmed post-mortem) — which is ruining his life and that of his family. In the interview, he refers to recent comments by England forward Courtney Lawes, who said: “Generally it’s your genetics which will determine if you get things like dementia and stuff like, how much you’re drinking, other recreational things, and how healthy you keep yourself in later life”.
Abbey countered: “I didn’t drink. I didn’t take drugs. I’ve never smoked a cigarette. Between ages of 12 and 21, I wouldn’t have drunk more than a dozen times. The guys at university used to find it funny. I never liked it. I still don’t have alcohol in the house.”
He says he’s mainly a Christmas drinker, drinks maybe half a dozen times a year. “So next they’ll say it’s ‘just bad luck’, that it’s all hereditary. But we’ve got no history of dementia in the family, on either side.” He says his dad’s just starting to show signs now he’s 75. “The truth is you can’t ascribe the disease I’ve got to anything else other than playing rugby.”
When you see that, and you acknowledge the medical consensus that most forms of dementia, except for a few very rare versions, are not hereditary (though some people may be more prone than others), you truly begin to accept that rugby has to change, even if the science leading to precise pinpointing of cause does not yet exist.
That’s even if the changes ordered by the RFU (on the same day as the announcement of the amateurs’ legal action) seem self-harming to the sport at first glance.
From July 1, the UK community game will see tacklers able only to tackle from the waist down. The RFU quoted studies that higher contact on the ball carrier and closer proximity of the ball carrier and tacklers’ heads are associated with larger head impacts — and increased risk of concussion.
Could below the waist tackles be a norm in the future? Photo / Warren Buckland
“Lowering the height of the tackle and encouraging the tackler to bend more at the waist will minimise the risk of this occurring while maintaining the tackle as an integral part of the game,” the RFU statement said.
“Ball carriers will also be encouraged to follow the principle of evasion, which is a mainstay of the game, to avoid late dipping and thereby avoid creating a situation where a bent tackler may be put at increased risk of head-on-head contact with the ball carrier through a late or sudden change in body height of the ball carrier.”
The principle of evasion? What does that actually mean — and how will referees and others police a change which may not be far away from becoming part of the elite game too?
The latest available data is that 29 per cent of (elite game) head injuries are suffered by the ball carrier, 71 per cent by the tackler. Mandating tackles below the waist brings the tackler into more contact with knees and hips — the two biggest culprits in tackler head injuries.
Here are some other possible effects of forcing tackle heights below the waist:
Weaker defences, perhaps to the point where the current dominance of defence is completely overshadowed by attacks.
Offloads, with tacklers unable to aim at the ball to jog it loose, will become more common. Some matches may produce basketball-like scores.
Skills like the shoulder bump — when a ball carrier times a shoulder drop to bump off a tackler — will be forbidden.
It could bring more red cards — like the one suffered by All Black prop Angus Ta’avao, sent off for improper tackle height against Ireland although it clearly seemed an accident. The ball carrier, Garry Ringrose, changed direction at the last moment, a factor in the head-to-head collision. How will that scenario fit into the “principle of evasion”?
The roundly disliked rolling maul may become an even more common way of scoring tries, though it could go the other way if teams see more profit in getting the ball wide.
It could open the door for more smaller players, with more emphasis on evasion rather than brute strength.
There’s more; the new laws in the UK’s next rugby season will be carefully watched. For all we rugby diehards love the game and its physical side, reading Abbey’s story makes it clear rugby is heading towards “a new normal”.
