I have read recently that Allyson Pollock believes that playing contact rugby (scrum and tackle area) in school is dangerous and is causing children to miss school due to injury.
I wanted as the Director of Mini and Junior Rugby to give my slant her view. There are parts to her argument of which I do agree with and some I disagree with.

The reason young people and children suffer injury or concussion is due to the coaching of the tackle area. If this is coached correctly we shouldn’t have a significant amount of head injuries.

I personally find when coaching the tackle there are three key coaching points so that is can be coached safely;

• Eye to thigh – when making a tackle if you line up your eyes to the thigh of the opponent you are low and ready to tackle.
• Cheek to cheek – when you are low and ready to tackle your cheek on your face should then make contact with the bum cheek of the opponent to then avoid hitting the femur (thigh bone)
• Band of steel – when you have done the first two points you wrap your arms round and squeeze to bring opponents legs together and you should fall on top of the tackled player
Any questions with regards to this coaching tip please contact me and I can come to your training sessions and give you a demo and explain further.

If you ever have a child or young person suffer concussion when playing rugby then please follow the correct procedure. If you do not know the procedure familiarise yourself with the RFU’s HEADCASE initiative I have put a link to this below.

http://www.englandrugby.com/my-rugby/players/player-health/concussion-headcase/