Sober Thal said:
If people want to go hurt themselves, who am I to argue. I just for some strange reason think it's more intelligent to wear pads at least.
EDIT: Well, better pads.
No offence, but you obviously don't understand rugby as well as you think if you reckon pads would be safer. Thing is, rugby is nothing like American Football (which is really just a bastardised US version of the original, noble, English sport). In both kinds of rugby, in both league and union, rules are designed specifically around the physical contact between players not causing any dangers for their safety. Fine, you can still hurt someone if you aren't careful. But there are specific ways in which you're allowed to tackle people (usually always below the waist), which American Football doesn't have. You aren't allowed to collapse the scrum, if you do then it has to restart. There are all sorts of different rules that in the end make rugby a very safe game to play, despite it's rough nature. And although injuries do happen, they are thankfully not very common. They happen about as often as in games like football or the like, in fact.
Note that I was taught to play rugby in school, and although I never enjoyed playing it I do enjoy watching it. I'll accept that sometimes injuries can happen, I actually saw someone break their neck in a charity game (fortunately my mum drove the guy to hospital and he recovered well, though he can't play rugby again in case he does more damage...). The guy did manage to get away okay though, not even any sort of paralysis or anything, he just has to be careful in doing stuff that could cause neck damage (so no rollercoasters, I guess...
). But such incidents are extremely rare, and I've not heard of anyone dying from playing the sport for a very long time. Whereas in American Football, as far as I'm aware there have been plenty of times when pads and such have saved someone's life, or at least saved them from very serious injury.
My point is, rugby isn't a very dangerous sport. Pads can be used if you want, and most players wear a gum shield and some wear scrum caps (like my brother), which are useful for protection. But overall it's not really necessary to use pads, because the sport itself isn't dangerous enough to require them.
[small]
As another thing, whenever I mention 'football' and don't use the word 'American' before it, I mean proper football. Not the bastardised rugby that Americans call football. Just in case you were confused there .[/small]
