SA RUGBY A 'PARAPLEGIC FACTORY

this is really worrying; I love rugby, even though it was the root cause of me becoming a wheelchair user. But this tells me that there is something really wrong with Rugby in South Africa. Some of the stories that are coming out are really frightening & I do feel that something needs to be done. I have heard of horror stories from my sons' schools of coaches playing injured players, suggesting that children take substances to 'improve their body mass' & even paying students to injure opponents on the field. I don't think that it is so much a problem with the laws (Rugby has laws, not rules) of the game; but more an attitude problem which starts at school level, and permeates through the whole Rugby culture here.

By Kashiefa Ajam, Melanie Peters and Tash Reddy, Pretoria News online

Rugby in South Africa is in danger of becoming a "paraplegic factory". The rugby season has only just begun, but already serious on-field injuries have cost one player his life.