Reconceptualising the standard of care in sport : the case of youth rugby in England and South

Introduction This article is broadly concerned with the relationship between sport and personal injury and, specifically, compares how rugby is regulated by the tort of negligence in England and delict in South Africa respectively. Sport is an important area of civil society in both South Africa and England and, aside from the health benefits, can be used to develop and deliver a wide range of policies. At the same time, the interaction of sport and law has become increasingly significant across a number of legal fields including contract, copyright, and a range of specific commercial issues. These disputes tend to operate at the elite level of sport, the professional game. At the recreational and junior level the prime area of legal intervention relates to injuries and the application of negligence and delict. As Lord Templeman wryly noted in 1985, "a fashionable plaintiff alleges negligence" and there is concern for the consequences to sport of an expanded legal responsibility. Whilst the general principles and approach to ascribing liability are of course applicable, for sport there are additional factors that need to be taken into account. These can be categorised into two contexts; a) the broader context of sport as an important social and cultural activity and b) the specific sporting context that includes not just the actual rules or laws of the game but also the playing culture.