Rugby!

I can't tell him anything. He loves rugby and gets into the thick of it. He scored two tries and two conversions yesterday. He's happy- it's me that's not!

Tell him to play on either wing,
and when the ball comes to him,
just pass it straight back to someone else.
BUT tell him to keep "moving" "with the line" then he won't be noticed standing still.

They must have had good strong umbrellas Lexigran not like our little handbag ones. It makes you wonder if the women spectators took them as a cudgle just in case.

And my friend’s husband has persistent and permanent shoulder pain diagnosed as a result of rugby scrums in his youth.

I never said I could stop him playing rugby just that I deplored the potential risk. Head injuries are rife and long term effects persist or appear long after the event. My friend's husband's apparent dementia turns out to be brain injury from playing rugby at school.
It's cotton wool all the way for me.

Roll out the Cotten wool eh! No sport is compulsory and they can choose not to do it . My grandson was bullied throughout his primary school ( who were totally useless at dealing with it ) by one particular boy ….then, my daughter enrolled him into a boxing club …which he thoroughly enjoyed , all precautionary measures were taken and he gained in confidence . He then went on to play rugby with a local youth team at 13….. They encouraged him to get stronger by light weights……amazingly the bullying stopped ( I didn’t ask how) ……You don’t do kids any favours by wrapping them in Cotten wool , or girls either! I know our instinct is to do that, but we have to overcome it . He’s 12 your grandson , not 2!
My brother broke his leg playing cricket when he was 12 ….i have had 3 breaks …one by stepping out of my front door !!!
Surely you do not want your grandkids to be coddled. It’s his choice , let him get on with it and CUDDLE him if he gets hurt ,but dont CODDLE him!
My grandson , now 16 , has gone on to play Volleyball and football, two much reasonabley safer sports , until he broke his finger last month ( volleyball) !!!
Life’s a risk …let them live it!!

Rules for young rugby have changed fortunately as our DGS now plays and loves it.In the day when my son his father played it was awful and I couldn't bear to watch or listen to spectators shouting out threatening abuse.I did warn him he would suffer in later years with all those sprains/taped fingers etc and yes he has deformed joints,nasal problems,back strain but he also has an amazing circle of close friends and very active social life through being involved with the sport

My eldest GS plays rugby league. He’s 12 and been playing rugby since he was 7. He started with union but then went onto league which we all prefer. Luckily, he hasn’t had any injuries. He never goes to football matches and I’m glad about that as the culture of football is quite thuggish. We are all RL season ticket holders and there is never any trouble.

I don’t know anything about rugby other than the potential for accidents but my GC father is a big fan so both GC play. Girl and boy, 14 and 10.
Can’t say I am happy and don’t like to watch it as it seems very rough but nothing to do with me.

All three of my daughters played Rugby for their club, regional, and east of England girls. One of my daughters is the captain of Lincoln ladies, a qualified referee, and coach at the grand old age of 30yrs. Rugby gave my daughters confidence, the importance of teamwork, discipline. It also gave them friends and teammates, and the importance of female strength in a misogynistic world. All three went on to university, all have professional careers.We lived in a council house and they went to the local comprehensive school. Yes they had broken nose, ankle and broken collar bone, but I think they gained more independence . Plus no worries when it came to dealings with teenage boys.

I should add that my sister played rugby at university and after and loved it, but she deliberately chose a non-scrum position as the refereeing was so poor and that was the area where there was the most accidental or deliberately inflicted damage.

The refereeing issue in women's sport extended (at that time at least) to soccer - I once saw a player being stamped on (I was a spectator) and nothing was done because the referee didn't see, there were no assistants at all and the police wouldn't look at anything that happened on a playing field as an assault.

It sounds as though the main issue for your DGS is a poor standard of refereeing with rules not being enforced.

Assault is not an allowed part of this or any other sport.

It is particularity important in contact sports that referees are not of the "it toughens them up" variety.

Mouthguards which register head contacts and retain that information for an entire playing career are being introduced at International level and it is hoped that the cost will reduce enough to make them compulsory for all levels.

There has been a lot of research this century and resulting in better understanding of the serious cognitive and neuropathological consequences of repetitive head impacts and multiple concussions

I’m a massive Rugby fan, there are injuries like most sports, I see it as an outlet for the energy of men and some women, it is good for team building. There is a very old adage, Rugby is a hooligans game played by gentlemen, Football is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans. If boys want to play let them, if not they can choose athletics, tennis or many other sports

Rugby Union has gone too far in the high impact aspect of the game, causing brain injuries, that has to change and is changing

A close member of our family has recently retired from professional rugby and won’t be encouraging his young son to play, despite having a great career and a passion for the game.

My twin DS will be 50 this year. When they started playing rugby at school I was a wreck at the thought of both being injured. I insured them thinking if I paid for the e insurance I'd never need it. I didn't, and both are huge rugby fans, as am I.

Bella23. I think your grandfather must have played in the same soccer league as my father and came across the same aggressor. He was captaining a team of 15 year olds when a lady (shall we say) of generous proportions,wielding an umbrella,set about him and whilst raining blows on his head and shoulders declared that the team must have brought a man in to captain their side because no 15 year old was that tall and strong!

From a husband who played rugby, through to the next two generations, I think it’s safe to say we too are a rugby family! One remarked that he had had more injuries playing squash than he did Rugby. This obviously did not account for the odd black eye! We have been very lucky being able to travel round the country watching them play, though we did not venture abroad. Try to go to the tournaments and matches and share their enjoyment. Alas we have now become fair weather supporters but we still look forward to hearing their results on Saturdays. They have all done extremely well at this sport and we are so proud of what they all achieved.

As a house master’s wife in a rugby playing boys’ school I got to watch a lot of house matches in which scores could be settled. DS, watching this from the age of two, was the only boy I knew who came off the pitch clean, having steered of trouble, and took up rowing as soon as he joined the senior school at thirteen. Still likes watching rugby though.

You've worried me now eddiecat. My GS plays rugby and is learning to drive 😧

I worried about my son playing rugby at school but thankfully he wasn't injured and gave it up when he could. However a friend who played got injured and ended up with a pulmonary embolism. he survived it with a stay in hospital but then go covid during the pandemic and ended up with long covid, presumably due to the vulnerability from his previous illness. His son still plays and the whole family watch the sport, but I'm glad my son has no interest as I think it is quite a risky pastime.
DS does go climbing though and managed to break a bone in his heel jumping down from a climbing wall just before his wedding. He got married on crutches and their plans to climb mountains while on honeymoon had to be somewhat modified!
DD climbs mountains and managed to break and dislocate her ankle on top of a Scottish mountain and had to be rescued by helicopter!
Many sporting activities have risks attached but have many health and fitness benefits.

He's not learning to drive at only 12!

I really believe that most teenage boys have an inbuilt need/wish to do high adrenaline things. It probably goes back to caveman days! Surely it's better they get that from a sport than other reckless behaviour. My son took this desire to extremes by joining the Marines!
Are you going to stop him from learning to drive? That must be much more dangerous

Both my children boy and girl played rugby at school and adult level and loved it x one broken ankle and nose x2

Aveline

I bet it was the player's Gran! That's what I'd do if I saw anyone likely to hurt my DGS!

Where I come from all the local teams are Rugby League. They play Union at school. The woman who hit my granddad probably knew him it was a small village. He was not an aggressive man but was on the Rugby pitch. I had a lovely solid gold medal of his when his team won the county cup but unfortunately, it went with all my jewellery when we were broken into.
My father was doing trials for going professional but was injured and retired.
I suppose a lot depends on the position they play. My BIL played wing at county level and was never badly injured but a friend who did the same but in the forwards took some awful knocks and went back for more.
My SIL school would not play it as someone had been badly injured.
I'll still be watching it tomorrow.

Reminds me of my teenage years when my then boyfriend used to play rugby for the school every Saturday. Never knew what state he'd be in when we went out that evening - black eyes, missing teeth etc. Since those days brought up my son who played for a local club. I think he kept out of the fray as much as he could so it wasn't too bad. Bright lad! Hope my grandson doesn't take it up. Not keen on the sport as yet thankfully.