Rugby is football, or rugby football. This should not be confused with football and is really called soccer, but nobody calls it soccer because that sounds too American.

Some sports are bad for you. Rugby is one of them. And the problem is brain damage. Rules are constantly changed to make rugby union better to watch and prevent serious injuries. I’m not going to look up the details and I don’t need to. For a start, the game needed to introduce a concussion protocol if it looked like a player has been knocked out. This is a ten minute off pitch assessment to see if there is a problem. What I do know is that this isn’t long enough, as symptoms can show much later.

I didn’t start the day thinking about writing on this subject today, but an incident on the pitch made me want to. That incident involved George North. I didn’t see it live, but it’s no surprise that George was knocked out, it must have happened at least five times before. And this time, he didn’t return to the pitch.

Not being qualified as a neurosurgeon I can’t say if he should ever return to play the game again or not, but he should retire now. But rugby is a great sport which teaches children teamwork and women love a rugby player. And more importantly, rugby isn’t football. Why is this important? So, the supporters of rugby can differentiate themselves from the thuggish, thick, louts that support football.

I hope George is okay. But what I don’t understand the lack of concern when these incidents happen. But rugby players are tough and people who watch rugby are tough by association. It’s a game played by gentlemen with odd shaped balls.

It’s not all about class. This depends what part of the country you are in. But it is about class. There’s the military mentality of fit strong young men knocking lumps out of each other.

I’m all for people being tough and fit. That’s fine, but it takes the edge off it for me when we know that brain injuries will manifest themselves in later life. And for what? Entertainment? There must be something wrong with this.

I suppose I’ll still watch the international matches when they’re on. If it’s on TV it must be fine and I’m fine with that. Perhaps a few lives are worth it when national pride is at stake.