Insurance Litigation Alert

                                    Catastrophic Injury

                                                  14.01.04

Managing the Scrum

The game of rugby has seen its share of litigation in recent years, generally arising out of incidents in the scrum when an individual has sustained a catastrophic injury. Vowles v Evans (2003) was the first case in which the courts confirmed that a referee had a duty of care in an adult game to protect the safety of the players. This issue was once more the subject of litigation in the recent case of Allport v Wilbraham, heard in the Birmingham County Court in December 2003.

The claimant (‘A’) was catastrophically injured when a scrum failed to engage correctly during a match in October 1998. He pursued a claim against the defendant referee (‘W’), alleging that he did not apply the laws of the game, and in particular, failed to call the scrum in the sequence of “crouch, pause, engage”. If this case had succeeded it would have had considerable impact on the management and future conduct of scrums. Uniquely in this case the evidence confirmed that there were no previous problems with any scrums and that this was not a collapsed scrum which caused injury. It was a mistimed engagement.

The basis of A’s case was that on each and every occasion a scrum is formed the referee must follow the correct sequence. The judge found in favour of the referee. Crucial to that finding was the availability of contemporaneous documentation. These included W’s match report and the score cards assessing his ability to manage the game – particularly the scrum. In this instance the referee was given a score of ‘B’ for scrummaging by the captain of the home team (equating to ‘good’). Understandably the judge was not impressed by the captain’s later evidence that W’s scrummaging was particularly poor.

This case serves to highlight a number of points. Sporting claims invariably involve conflicting evidence from the opposing teams, often giving partisan views. Notwithstanding the high profile decisions of Smolden and Vowles, these claims remain difficult to prove and with the appropriate evidence a successful defence can be maintained. Critical to that defence is the availability of contemporaneous documentation to illuminate what happened often years after the event in a fast moving physical contact sport. Also, it is worth examining the roles of the captain and team coach in case there is scope for a claim against these individuals.

Beachcroft Wansbroughs’ Catastrophic Injury Team acted on behalf of the referee in Allport.

For further information on any of this material please contact

Philip Tracey ptracey@bwlaw.co.uk or Tom Baker tbaker@bwlaw.co.uk

This alert is published on a general basis for information only and no liability is accepted for errors of fact or opinion it may contain.  Professional advice should always be obtained before applying the information to particular circumstances.