Piers Morgan pulls apart alarmist anti-rugby Professor's argument

Monday, 10 January 2022 at 14:46

byRugby Rucker

Professor Allyson Pollock wants rugby tackles and scrums banned in schools as she claims it is detrimental to children's health.

Supported by former England rugby player Maggie Alphonsi, Piers Morgan challenges her calls for the ban.

Other figures have pointed out the gapping holes in Professor Pollock’s arguments.

Nigel Owens MBE

@Nigelrefowens

·Follow

They will want to ban walking to school next. And only rubber pens and pencils to be used in class. What is the world coming too.

BBC Breakfast

@BBCBreakfast

Should tackling in rugby be banned in schools? bbc.in/2y5q5Y5

7:30 AM · Sep 26, 2017

6.5K

Read 252 replies

In a statement World Rugby have said of Prof Pollock: “The continual claims made by Pollock are not based on like-for-like injury statistics and her extreme and alarmist conclusions are simply not supported by the data.

"It is well documented that, for most sports, injury rates increase with age, but the quoted research mixes 9-12 with 18-20 age groups.”

Piers Morgan: My all-time rugby XV:

FRONT-ROW:

Loosehead-prop: Os du Randt (South Africa)
Hooker: Sean Fitzpatrick (New Zealand)
Tighthead-prop: Graham Price (Wales)

SECOND-ROW:

Lock: Martin Johnson (England)
Lock: John Eales (Australia)

BACK-ROW:

Flanker: Francois Pienaar (South Africa)
Flanker: Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
Number 8: Zinzan Brooke (New Zealand)

HALFBACKS:

Scrum-half: Gareth Edwards (Wales)
Fly-half: Dan Carter (New Zealand)

DID YOU KNOW? In May 2018, Dan Carter revealed that he declined the offer to switch to National Football League (NFL) as a kicker for New England Patriots after The Rugby World Cup in 2015.