It was one of the most exciting parts of the game! You'd see a guy breaking the line of defence then bam! The guy with the ball gets taken down with a massive shoulder charge! Why was it banned? Can someone shed some light on this?It was one of the most exciting parts of the game! You'd see a guy breaking the line of defence then bam! The guy with the ball gets taken down with a massive shoulder charge! Why was it banned? Can someone shed some light on this?

I don't see wants wrong with it when executed properly it shouldn't have been banned and should be legal in Union

The problem was too many were trying to do a shoulder charge and they stuffed it up. Sonny Bill was good, Ian Roberts, Greg Florimo were all great exponents of the shoulder charge and few others tried it. They'd nail someone right in the sternum. before they banned it, too many were hitting the player in the head. The many ruyined it for the few who could do it. Edit@ Dave, in rugby the rule book is explicit, the arms nust be used in the tackle.

Because it was exciting to watch that's why. The ban came around about the same time studies were being conducted in the US about the G-forces in shoulder charges and the amount of concussions in the NFL. I think that swayed the NRL heaps.

The IRL banned it due to it being unsafe to players who copped one. In my opinion it was Greg Inglis shoulder charge on Dean Young that considered it being banned. It made the game more interesting but the IRL had their attention on the players safety.