Rugby.

[Lifelong]

Very sad accounts of brain damage to former players on this evenings news.

Could this be the end of the game as we know it?

 

[dickythorpe]

It's possible Lifey.
Game has gone very boring and words like "hits" and "collisions" were never part of the vocabulary when I played.
They've "macho'd" the sport up so much I get very bored and irritated by those that harp on about big hits.
It was all about avoiding contact and passing the ball before contact that drew me to the sport.
The likes of Titley, Ring, Clement, Jiffy, ieuan Evans right through to Shane Williams always looked to wrong foot defenders instead of smashing through.

 

[Darran]

It’s sad but I’m not sure what they can sue about surely they knew the risks of what they were getting into.

 

[Lifelong]

It's possible Lifey.
Game has gone very boring and words like "hits" and "collisions" were never part of the vocabulary when I played.
They've "macho'd" the sport up so much I get very bored and irritated by those that harp on about big hits.
It was all about avoiding contact and passing the ball before contact that drew me to the sport.
The likes of Titley, Ring, Clement, Jiffy, ieuan Evans right through to Shane Williams always looked to wrong foot defenders instead of smashing through.

Could be the end of the scrum do you think?

 

[dickythorpe]

It’s sad but I’m not sure what they can sue about surely they knew the risks of what they were getting into.

I agree Dar. What next? Formula 1 drivers suing for car bursting into flames whilst crashing at over 100 mph?

 

[dickythorpe]

I don't think the scrum is the problem. It's the open play and how you get "smashed" by 2 defenders one high one low.
Also the ruck is totally unrecognisable from that of 20 - 25 years ago.
With all this staying on your feet and using your hands the " Clear outs" are brutal.
Remember Bakkies Botha doing a number of adam jones on 2009 lions tour. Jones had to go off.

 

[dickythorpe]

https://youtu.be/f7CM-_JlG64

Looks a fair hit, but look at the replay and think how hard Adam must have been hit to move like that backwards.
Lucky it wasn't his head Botha got.
Acceptable clear out back then and in my day ,not sure if it would be a yellow or even red now.

 

[Darran]

It’s sad but I’m not sure what they can sue about surely they knew the risks of what they were getting into.

I agree Dar. What next? Formula 1 drivers suing for car bursting into flames whilst crashing at over 100 mph?

Exactly Dick.