There has long been a perception, which takes little account of the efforts over player safety made by rugby's authorities, that the scrum is the sport's primary danger area. It is at once one of rugby's defining features, a direct throwback to the game played at Rugby School in the nineteenth century, and also by its very nature a pressure point.

As the game has become bigger, faster, stronger, the physical forces that come together at the scrum have grown, most notably on the hooker and his two props in the front row. But the Rugby Football Union's own injury audit shows that catastrophic injury, when it does occur, is more likely to happen in the tackle.

A series of procedures have been put in place to try and prevent the collapsed scrum, which is where serious neck or back injuries have occurred in the amateur past. Not only that, players and referees are far more conscious not only of the possibility of injuries but the legal consequences that might follow than their counterparts 50 years ago may have been.

Standards, of course, vary. At professional level, every possible preparation is made to avoid serious injury; when they do occur, they tend to be the result of unnatural stress placed upon joints or ligaments, often because of the increased power and size of today's forwards. The further down the leagues one goes, the preparation inevitably decreases, hence the fears that attended the introduction this season of an experimental law variation permitting the collapse of the maul.

There is no evidence so far to suggest that this ELV has had unhappy consequences, nor is it likely to have at professional level, where players are taught precise techniques and how to effect them. But the RFU has established a study group to monitor the impact of all the ELV, both in their effect on how the game is played and any unlooked-for consequences.

In recent years, 50 per cent of catastrophic injuries in England - those which result in permanent severe functional disability - have come from the tackle area and 22 per cent from the scrum. As recently as Thursday night, there was an incident during a European Challenge Cup match between Brive and Newcastle Falcons where a Newcastle forward, Tim Swinson, hurt his head in a tackle on the former England wing, Ben Cohen, and had to be carried off after prolonged attention on the field.

Happily Swinson suffered no more than soreness but his accident only emphasises the importance of youngsters being taught the best technique. A stream of literature from the RFU is available for coaches at all levels of the game but, in any contact sport, there are inherent dangers.