Injuries tragic but school rugby is safe, says John “Knuckles” Connolly

FORMER Wallabies coach John “Knuckles” Connolly says the four serious spinal injuries that have put school kids intensive care in the last month should not stop kids playing contact sport, and even questioned one of the safety measures already in place.

• Urgent review into rugby safety
• Second serious injury in two weeks
• ‘I won’t let scrum accident define me’

FORMER Wallabies coach John “Knuckles” Connolly says rugby remains safe despite the four serious spinal injuries that have put school kids intensive care in just one month.

Alexander Clark was seriously injured on Saturday.

Connolly, now a Sunshine Coast councillor, said “hundreds of thousands” of tackles were made every weekend and the four unrelated incidents were “tragic” but should not stop kids playing contact sport.

“It’s shattering,” Connolly said of the injuries.

“I’ve got a 14-year-old boy myself and you relate it to your situation,” Connolly told ABC Sunshine Coast’s Annie Gaffney on her morning show.

“It’s always disturbing and upsetting when these things happen.

“In the last 15 years or so the laws of the game have changed safety-wise, particularly in regard to scrums.

“We’ve had a very good run in the past 10 or 12 years then all of a sudden in the last month we’ve had three or four. A couple of those boys, the recovery looks good but we’ve had a couple in Brisbane that it is yet to be determined how serious those are.

“One of those happened in the scrum and the other one was diving for a try in the corner.

“Your heart goes out to the parents involved in those situations. Your life can change in a heartbeat.

“Just like kids riding down the road on a push bike. I’m always telling my young bloke be careful when he on his bike, like you have to be careful when you hop in your car and driving.

John Connolly says safety has greatly improved in the game. Picture: Darren England

“I think the safety aspects of the game have really improved since when I ran round but it’s always disturbing when you hear these things.

“In my 25 years of playing and coaching, I was involved in one and thankfully that young bloke is now getting around, though he does have a bit of a limp.

“In the hundreds of thousands of games that are held every weekend, it is low, but one is one too many.”

Rugby Australia has announced it will review safety measures, following the latest serious injury - the fourth in as many weeks.

Alexander Clark, 15, dived to score a try at speed as he was tackled by two Ipswich Grammar players in the 15Bs match on the Flats at Nudgee College on Saturday. He suffered a serious neck injury and underwent surgery Saturday night. He is expected to remain in ICU at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane until Wednesday.

Conor Tweedy in hospital with dad Sean and mum Beck. Conor was injured on July 21 and is fighting to regain feeling in his arms and legs. Picture: Annette Dew

Connolly did not support calls for an inquiry into schoolboy rugby but said there may be “learnings” from it.

“There will be reviews of this,” Connolly said.

“There are thousands of games played every weekend and now and again we do see an odd tragedy.

“There may be learnings come out of this as well.”

He also questioned the advantages of ranking players by size rather than age, saying “a big fat kid just running round without a lot of talent”, as he had, was no match for older kids in higher grades despite their extra size.

He said segregating kids by weight was not enough and the danger could be to kids big for their age being sent up to grades they could not handle.

“The issue with weight is that you get kids who are 10 or 11 but mentally they might only be eight or nine,” Connolly said.

“They are just playing for the fun of it and they are not very good footy players.

“Back when I played I was a big fat kid just running round without a lot of talent. You play in that space. If you had to go up two or three age groups above, I think you could do more damage.

“I think the way forward is probably trying to judge how good the kid is, and if the kid is 11 and he has a tremendous amount of talent, and he’s very big then he may go up, but that’s a very subjective decision.

“I’m not 100 per cent on the weight because you’ll get a 14-year-old who might be small in stature but is incredibly strong. So there’s no easy answer here.

“My suggestion would be try and evaluate. A very good 11-year-old may have to play up a level but another 11-year-old who may be even bigger but hasn’t got a lot of talent and just runs around for the fun of it is not the same threat.”

Alexander’s accident follows three other serious injuries in Brisbane GPS rugby.

Terrace prop Conor Tweedy is fighting to regain feeling in his arms and legs after a scrum collapse in a Second XV game on July 21.

James Kleidon will return to Toowoomba Grammar School this week after his rugby-related neck injury.

Fellow TGS student Ollie Bierhoff has taken assisted steps in the Princess Alexandra Hospital after his neck injury.