In rugby the tackling technique doesnt seem as wreckless. In american football guys are straight up throwing themselves at you. Imagine if even with pads rugby players threw themselves at each other like that for 80 minutes with the nonstop nature of the sport. You're asking for horrible injuries.
Rugby league is pretty reckless but there's no head collision and a rule against high tackles.
Rugby Union is a lot stricter with tackle technique and head injury - they're trialling collision recorders, where if a player is recorded colliding too hard, they're automatically sent off for a head check. It's come leaps and bounds recently. The 90's and early 2000's were a terrible time to be a professional rugby player.
I guess that's the other thing though - rugby's non stop nature means a lot more total collisions per game, and therefore per career. With science coming out emphasising the role of 'sub-concussive' hits in CTE, who knows what's in store for this generation of players, especially considering their increased size and speed compared to pre super professionalism.
In rugby the tackling technique doesnt seem as wreckless. In american football guys are straight up throwing themselves at you. Imagine if even with pads rugby players threw themselves at each other like that for 80 minutes with the nonstop nature of the sport. You're asking for horrible injuries.
Rugby league is pretty reckless but there's no head collision and a rule against high tackles.
Rugby Union is a lot stricter with tackle technique and head injury - they're trialling collision recorders, where if a player is recorded colliding too hard, they're automatically sent off for a head check. It's come leaps and bounds recently. The 90's and early 2000's were a terrible time to be a professional rugby player.
I guess that's the other thing though - rugby's non stop nature means a lot more total collisions per game, and therefore per career. With science coming out emphasising the role of 'sub-concussive' hits in CTE, who knows what's in store for this generation of players, especially considering their increased size and speed compared to pre super professionalism.