Rugby Injuries in Children: What's Common, What's Serious, and What to Do on the Touchline

Most rugby injuries in children are the kind that heal by Wednesday. A few aren't, and the job for a parent on the touchline is telling the difference quickly and without panicking either your child or yourself. This is the honest list: what's common, what's serious, and what to actually do.

The common ones

Grazes, grass burns and astro burns. The most common injury in junior rugby by a mile, especially on artificial pitches. They look worse than they are and they get infected when they're ignored. Clean with sterile wipes or saline, cover with a non-adherent dressing, change it daily, and keep it covered to train. The turf burn guide is the long version. Redness spreading, heat, swelling or weeping after a day or two means a pharmacist or GP.

Bruises, bumps and dead legs. Cold pack wrapped in a cloth, twenty minutes at a time, rest. Back on when it's comfortable, not when they say it's fine.

Nosebleeds. Sit them down, lean forward, pinch the soft part of the nose for ten to fifteen minutes, breathe through the mouth. Not tipping the head back. If it hasn't stopped in half an hour, or the nose looks crooked or blocked after a knock, it needs looking at.

Sprained ankles and wrists, jammed fingers. Cold, compression, rest, elevate. If they can't put weight on it, it looks deformed, or the swelling and pain aren't settling by the next day, get it assessed. Children's bones grow from soft plates near the joints, so a "sprain" in a child sometimes isn't; a doctor decides, not a coach.

Cuts and split lips. Pressure with a clean pad for ten minutes. Most stop. A cut that gapes, keeps bleeding through the pad, is on the face, or has grit in it needs urgent care and possibly closing.

The serious ones

Concussion. This is the one to know cold. Any knock to the head, or a heavy tackle where the head snaps, followed by any of: confusion, looking dazed, a headache, dizziness, sickness, slurred words, being unusually quiet or irritable, memory gaps, or any loss of consciousness however brief. The rule in UK grassroots sport is the same for every age: if in doubt, sit them out. No return that day, no "they seem fine now," and assessment by a doctor. Under current UK guidance a child should not return to competitive rugby for at least 21 days, and only through a graduated return signed off by a healthcare professional. The RFU's Headcase resources are free, aimed at parents as much as coaches, and worth twenty minutes of your time before the season starts.

Call 999 for a head injury with any loss of consciousness, a seizure, repeated vomiting, worsening headache, neck pain, weakness or tingling in the arms or legs, or unusual behaviour. Keep them still.

Neck and back. Any complaint of neck pain after a tackle, scrum or ruck, or numbness or tingling anywhere, means don't move them, and call an ambulance. Coaches are trained for this; your job is to stop anyone else helping them up.

Fractures and dislocations. A limb that's the wrong shape, can't be moved, or where the child is in obvious severe pain. Don't straighten it, don't pop anything back in, support it as found and get to A&E, or 999 if it's an open break or there's numbness or colour change beyond the injury.

Cauliflower ear. Rarer in kids than in adults, but it happens to forwards. A swollen, boggy ear after a scrum or a ruck is a fluid build-up that needs draining by a clinician within a few days to stop it setting. It's a GP or urgent care job, not a YouTube one. A scrum cap helps here more than it helps anywhere else.

The skin ones nobody warns you about

Scrumpox. The rugby name for herpes gladiatorum, a cold sore virus spread by skin contact in scrums and rucks. Clusters of small blisters on the face, neck or shoulders, often with tingling first. It's contagious while there are blisters, so it's off training until they're fully scabbed over, and a GP or pharmacist can help. Our guide to herpes gladiatorum covers it properly.

Ringworm, impetigo and athlete's foot. All spread in changing rooms and by shared kit. A round scaly patch, golden crusting sores, or itchy cracked feet: pharmacist first, off contact until treated and covered, and don't be embarrassed. Every team has it at some point. The gyms and clubs that talk about it openly are the ones that don't spread it.

What to have on you

A small first aid kit in the bag with non-adherent dressings, washproof plasters, cleansing wipes, nitrile gloves, a cold pack and nasal plugs covers almost everything in the common list. Our rugby first aid kit guide covers the touchline bag and what the club should have, and the turf burn kit is the one built for pitch sports.

Who to call

999: any loss of consciousness, seizure, neck injury, breathing difficulty, severe bleeding, an open fracture. 111: urgent but not life-threatening, or you're not sure. Pharmacist or GP: skin problems, wounds that aren't healing, anything not settling after a couple of days. And any head knock with symptoms is a doctor, the same day, however well they look by teatime.

This article is educational and is not medical advice. It reflects NHS guidance and the UK grassroots sport concussion guidance current at the time of writing. If your child is injured, see a first aider, pharmacist or GP; in an emergency call 999.