Surgeon calls for ban on contested scrums

BTW THIS IS SCRUM

Sunday, May 28, 2006

A leading surgeon has called for contested scrums to be outlawed because of the unacceptable risk of serious neck injuries.

In an article published in the British Medical Journal, James Bourke, a consultant general surgeon at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, said rugby union should follow rugby league and adopt non-contested scrums.

"It's a question of safety," said Bourke, who was club doctor for Nottingham Rugby Club for 30 years.

"I originally subscribed to contested scrums, but having experienced the consequences of two young men needing to be in wheelchairs as a result of collapsed scrums, I have been forced to change my view."

Bourke's article in the BMJ referred to a report from Australia that said spinal injuries were more common in rugby union than in other football codes. It said no scrum injuries had occurred in league in Australia since 1996, when contested scrums were banned.

it wont be called rugby if there's no scrum!! -teemortee