Saturday 7 October 2017 15:17, UK
Former New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick believes World Rugby is doing enough to address the issue of concussion in the sport.
The long-running debate over concussion resurfaced last month after health experts claimed tackling and scrums should be banned in youth rugby.
Allyson Pollock and Graham Kirkwood from the Institute of Health at Newcastle University urged ministers to "put the interests of the child before those of corporate professional rugby unions".
However, Fitzpatrick believes World Rugby is doing enough to educate players of all of ages about the dangers of concussion.
"I think it is one of the primary concerns and it is an issue that World Rugby is trying to tackle head on, no pun intended," said Fitzpatrick.
"They are making sure that people are educated. Above the shoulders, now you can't touch that. That seems to be working.
"Probably the bigger concern is the number of injuries we're seeing throughout the Premiership. Harlequins, for example, have 25 players injured."
Fitzpatrick claims it would be a mistake to ban collision from youth rugby as players need to learn how to correctly tackle.
"I don't agree that we should take all contact out of children playing rugby up to the age of 12," he said. "I think children need to learn at a young age, against children of the same size, how to tackle and how to be tackled.
"The key word for me is education."
