Leading doctors have called for a ban on full-contact rugby in schools because they say the risk of serious injury is too high.

The traditional game should be replaced by touch rugby, more than 70 experts said in an open letter.

Under-18s are vulnerable to injuries from tackles and scrums, they warned, and the benefits of team sport could be maintained if a safer form were played.

Leading doctors have called for a ban on full-contact rugby in schools because they say the risk of serious injury is too high (stock image)

The letter, addressed to ministers, chief medical officers and children’s commissioners, described rugby as a ‘high-impact collision sport’. Studies showed risks ‘are high and injuries are often serious’, it claimed.

While the exact number of pupil players is unclear, the Rugby Football Union is driving a campaign to get a million playing. But the medics said rugby was already compulsory in many secondaries, claiming that the drive would put more at risk.

The letter, co-ordinated by Prof Allyson Pollock of Queen Mary University of London, said: ‘We have become increasingly concerned about the harms and risks of injuries to children playing school rugby. The majority of all injuries occur during contact or collision, such as the tackle and the scrum.’

She warned they could have ‘short-term, life-long, and life-ending consequences’ and linked concussion with depression and memory loss. Prof Pollock believed schools had a special responsibility for the safety of children.

The traditional game should be replaced by touch rugby, more than 70 experts said in an open letter. But many rugby stars start their professional careers before 18, including Welsh ace George North (pictured)

‘Parents expect the state to look after their children when they are at school,’ she wrote.

‘Children are being left exposed to serious and catastrophic risk of injury. The UK and Irish governments should ensure the safety of rugby by removing contact from the children’s game in schools.’

Many rugby stars start their professional careers before 18. Welsh ace George North, 23, won his first international cap at 18.

Fellow signatory Prof Eric Anderson, of Winchester University, added: ‘Our contention is not with rugby, there are many positive things that come from this team sport; our contention is with the collisions. A more sensible approach is to play tag rugby.’

But Dr Andrew Murray, consultant in sports and exercise medicine at Edinburgh University, countered: ‘Physical inactivity is one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century. Stopping children playing this form of rugby is in my view counterproductive.’

Saracens Rugby Club has joined a three-year study of players’ responses to head impacts. And former Ireland and Lions star Trevor Ringland, 56, wrote in The Times yesterday that rugby had ‘become too physical and brutal’.

A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘Team sports such as rugby play an important role in developing character. We expect schools to be aware of the risks.’

And a Rugby Football Union spokesman said: ‘The RFU takes player safety extremely seriously and this is at the core of all the training we deliver.