‘Jackling? You’ve got to be mad’ – Cotton

England and Lions legend Fran Cotton has called for a return to conventional rucking as the best way to increase the safety of rugby in the modern day.

Efforts to make the game safer at all levels have become an increasingly prevalent issue with the rise in concussion-related health issues suffered by former professional and amateur players.

The RFU‘s recent steps to combat this at the grassroots level were met with widespread opposition, when it was revealed in January that they planned to lower the tackle height to the waist and below.

It has since become a regular topic on The Rugby Paper Podcast, with Cotton not the first guest to raise the jackal as an area where concussions are also a problem.

“How on earth we’ve allowed jackling to be part of our game I have no idea,” he said.

“Which lunatic would go over the ball, put his head near the floor and allow a 20 stone bloke to run in from 20 yards to blast you off the ball? You’ve got to be mad.

“A lot of the injuries and concussions must come in that area. Jim Telfer and Sir Ian McGeechan say we need to get rid of that, they’re massively respected rugby men and I agree with them.”

As well as disagreeing with the idea that conventional rucking is as dangerous as jackling, Cotton also believes that it would bring added benefits to the game, supporting efforts by rugby governing bodies to also improve the pace and attacking nature of the game.

“Some people say there’s a risk of danger if you go back to rucking, but it was never really violent,” he added.

“There were acts of foul play but of course you wouldn’t do that now because of the camera angles available. I don’t think it’s anywhere near the risk that people are talking about.

“I also think it would speed up the game, suck more people into the breakdown and create a bit more space out wide, but we don’t seem to be thinking in that direction.”

Listen to this week’s edition of The Rugby Paper Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify (also below).

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