A great weekend to be Irish.

Deiseblue said:

That’s American Football - the author’s references to footballers wearing helmets and pads is a bit of a giveaway !

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Haha, yeah poor choice there. There are many others that do cover football as we know it though, and while repeated heading of the ball is an issue, so are the more immediate injuries involving head contact with other players, goalposts, the ground, etc.

True but then again you never see footballers concussed as often as Johnny Sexton , for example , who seems to be constantly in the wars !
I’ve lost count of the times he’s been replaced with head injuries.

Deiseblue said:

True but then again you never see footballers concussed as often as Johnny Sexton , for example , who seems to be constantly in the wars !
I’ve lost count of the times he’s been replaced with head injuries.

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I probably know an equal number of rugby and soccer players, two of the soccer players retired on medical advice due to issues attributed to concussions, none of the rugby players had similar experiences. But, anecdotes or one off examples like Johnny (let's face it, he's not your average player) do not make for good science.

Concusion is not just caused by bangs to the head. The whiplash effect from where the brain moves around in the skull on impact can also cause it so I would expect rugby players to see more if it.

Peanuts20 said:

Concusion is not just caused by bangs to the head. The whiplash effect from where the brain moves around in the skull on impact can also cause it so I would expect rugby players to see more if it.

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So would I though the current thinking is that the health benefits of playing sport far outweigh the potential downsides.

The main problem with soccer is that most of the time it's boring to watch and the players behave like spoiled children on the pitch.
It's a really bad example for young children.
That and the the unfortunate reality that the Irish team is rubbish makes watching them both stressful and boring in equal measure.

At least we're good at Rugby.

Interesting to note that the RFU report state that concussion rates in elite Rugby in season 2020/21 have hit their highest levels since records began in 2002 .
Concussion for the 10th season running was the most reported injury accounting for a quite literally staggering 28% of all injuries in men and 26% in women
which dwarfs concussions in football where the vast percentage of injuries are to lower limbs.
It appears inevitable to me that major changes will have to be made to the laws of Rugby to limit physical contact and to ensure that the game is safe to play at all levels .
Football will , I believe, follow the example of Scotland in restricting heading in training at all levels
As an aside what absolutely brilliant games in the World Cup today - the beautiful game lives !

harsh and cold reality of it is that a modern rugby player is much bigger and stronger then those 30 years ago. A lock in the 80's would barely be a centre nowadays. The one area that hasn't grown is the head and skull. Thus the collisions are much bigger, at much greater pace and at much greater force. It may be time to go back to some of the older rules, no lifting in the line outs for example and also to limit the amount of kicking

And the Scottish FA have issued new guidance after a new study found brain related proteins in blood samples after heading the ball.

Great win for Ireland against a very good French team.

@joer - Fantastic game on Saturday... very exciting game.

I had the pleasure of watching the u20s Ire v Fra on Friday night in Cork and that was another great game and a fantastic result. Hopefully we can continue our winning ways !

joer said:

Great win for Ireland against a very good French team.

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A fantastic game. I was delighted to see Ross Byrne playing so well and no drop in standards when the the other subs came on. We need a squad to win a competition, not just a first 15 or even match day 23 and that's what we have now.
To beat France without Furlong, Sheehan, Henshaw and Gibson Park is some achievement. If anything Ireland should be a little disappointed that they didn't score more.

It should be some game against the Scots..