The start of the end?

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GB72
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Re: The start of the end?

Post by GB72 »

Tigerbeat wrote: Sat Sep 04, 2021 7:55 am In everything we do there is an element of risk. Employers provide training and equipment for their staff to mitigate and reduce any risks in the job. If employees have been trained and choose to ignore what they have been taught, it would be very difficult to put the company at fault.
In rugby, if the players tackle properly and play within the rules the risk of serious injuries will be reduced, but will not totally eliminate injury.
Again, I am totally guessing, but my initial thought is that the legal case will be based on the employers not having reasonable provisions in place to mitigage and reduce risks (these cases are coming from a time when being knocked out was just something you shook off and played on) and potentially based on the employers being complicit in long term damage with insufficient protocols and rest periods.

My concern is more based on the funding of the sport rather than the rule changes going forward. Rugby does not have the cash to make any number of payouts for damages and long term care but the timebomb has already been set by past actions. We shall see but you would think that even as low as a hundred players with claims in excess of a million pounds and we could be looking at bankrupting the sport.
mol2
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Re: The start of the end?

Post by mol2 »

I think the legalities and risks are clear to the participants who take part knowing the risks.

Those that pay them to fight and regulate the industry have legal obligations to ensure that fighters are fit and reasonable safety measures are in place to avoid the risks of unfit fighters and mismatches being allowed to happen with a ref to save the brave and concussed.

To an extent the same applies to rugby. The employers and authorities have a duty of care to their players to try and mitigate the risks. The nature of contact and combat sport does mean that risk cannot be removed entirely. Legal action by former players may be difficult to carry through.

Changes need to be reasonable and proportionate. Tackling restrictions are in place and are being monitored for effectiveness in improving safety.
The ruck changes made to speed the game up may have improved it as a spectacle but may have made it less safe.
Tactical subs may mean that giants can go flat out for half a game, subbed for another giant and get selected ahead of lighter, aerobically fitter players who can play the full game but without the same force.
WhitecapTiger
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Re: The start of the end?

Post by WhitecapTiger »

Apologies if posted elsewhere, I couldn't see it. It appears World Rugby are changing things, minimum time out for concussion to increase to 12 days (more detail in articles)

https://www.skysports.com/rugby-union/n ... col-change

On the new guidance, World Rugby said: "The evolved approach will see players with a history of concussion or who are removed from a match with obvious concussion symptoms, sit out from play for a minimum of 12 days, likely missing their next competitive match.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/ ... ons-change

A major change to the regulations on concussion management will be announced next week, with World Rugby ready to extend the compulsory stand-down period for affected players to 12 days with effect from 1 July.

At present a top-level player who fails a head injury assessment (HIA) is permitted to take the field again as early as the following weekend if they follow a graduated sequence of return-to-play protocols. The new policy will extend that stand-down period by five days.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/61874367

"The evolved approach will see players with a history of concussion or who are removed from a match with obvious concussion symptoms, sit out from play for a minimum of 12 days, likely missing their next competitive match," World Rugby said.

"No player will return earlier than the seventh day after injury, and any player's return will need to be approved by an independent concussion consultant."
Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.
LE18
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Re: The start of the end?

Post by LE18 »

Don't know if its been asked elsewhere but don't clubs insure against claims against them?
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