Following a recent call to ban tackling in school rugby games, one man who was paralysed during a school rugby accident has revealed he believes it should remain a contact sport.
At the highest levels of the game comes some of the hardest tackles and the biggest collisions.
Rugby is a full contact sport by nature but now a team of doctors and health experts are calling for a ban on tackling in the game at a school level.
Experts are warning that for under 18s – the risks are potentially high and injuries can be serious and have said schools should move to touch rugby and non-contact rugby.
David Ross from Moira was just 18 when he was left paralysed after he broke his neck during a school rugby game.
“I was on the ground after I’d made a tackle or was involved in the ruck, and I was trying to get back up and as I was getting up, a second tackle took place just beside where we were and created a pile up,” he explained.
“I got trapped in an awkward position at the bottom which unfortunately resulted in the injury that I sustained.
He added: “Rugby is a contact sport, to take the contact element out of the sport I think really kills the essence of rugby and takes away from the sport.”