Claire Gardner: It’s a hard game but rugby is easy choice

Many are dads with big voices, egging on their pride and joy. But while we mums holler with the rest of the crowd for our little darlings to run as fast as they can, our shouts are a little smaller than the dads. For it is with our hearts-in-our-mouths that we watch our child tackled to the cold, hard ground.

And then we have to resist the maternal urge to dash on to the pitch and stroke their heads, for we know that if we did, our boy would never forgive us.

So we watch as a coach deals with the casualty, usually a bloody nose or a bumped head or knee. Luckily we have a boy whose big build means that he’s more of a squasher than a squashed when it comes to tackling but even then there is no guarantee that his schoolboy rugby career will be injury free.

Most parents recognise that dealing with the usual knocks and bumps is all part of the package that comes with playing a contact sport. And many of us would far prefer that our kids dashed around in the fresh air with their friends rather than waste the weekend playing on the Wii. Playing rugby, however, is not without risks – one of those being the long-term effect of head clashes.

Last week a world-renowned expert on sports-related head injuries called on the International Rugby Board to encourage players who have experienced serious head trauma on the field to donate their brains when they die.

Robert Cantu, clinical professor of neurosurgery at the Boston University School of Medicine, suspects that some rugby players who suffer repeated concussions are at risk of a condition called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) or what used to be known as punch-drunk syndrome, a form of dementia.

This does not mean that a few bumped heads at the age of eight on the rugby pitch will result in this syndrome – just something to fret about if your little star sticks with the game for years to come.

There are also other tragic injuries, which, although rare, can occur on the rugby pitch.

Between 1994 and 2009 there were 12 teenagers in Scotland who suffered spinal injuries playing rugby, including ten who were left paralysed.

Most of these injuries were sustained in a scrum or tackle, and often with boys playing in a team significantly older than them.

In 2009 Scottish Rugby launched its “Are You Ready to Play Rugby?” campaign to improve safety in youth matches.

It included a crackdown on allowing children under the age of 16 to play against older teenagers as well as new courses for coaches and referees looking at injury management and correct rugby techniques.

Up-to-date figures show that since 2009 there has not been a single teenage spinal injury in Scottish rugby.

Dominic McKay, director of communication and public affairs for Scottish Rugby, said the initiative had received the backing of medical officers as well as academics.

Jim Littlefair, from Hearts and Balls, a Scottish based charity for rugby players who have suffered spinal injures, said rugby risks should not be overstated.

“These injuries are unusual, let’s not overplay this. The game is as safe as many sports. Statistically horse riding is more dangerous than rugby for spinal injuries by a long way,” he said.

So in years to come, as we continue watching our little darlings tackled to the cold hard ground, we should keep this in mind.

Also, children who are encouraged to take the safer option and stay at home with the Wii are still at risk of injury, as health experts have issued warnings of shoulder, ankle and foot injuries occurring from excessive playing on the console.

Naturally as a parent the desire to keep your offspring safe from harm is a priority – but there is always a balance to be struck.

I would always want my child keeping fit, playing rugby rather than sitting in room, locked in the potentially hazardous and unhealthy world of gaming.