A 17-YEAR-OLD boy has suffered a serious spinal injury during a school rugby game.

It is understood the injury happened during a first-team match when a scrum collapsed.

The injured boy, a pupil at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh, is believed to have been playing in the front row.

He was injured during a match against Stewart's Melville College at Inverleith at the weekend.

Yesterday the player, whose identity is being withheld at the request of his family, was transferred to Glasgow's Southern General Hospital for treatment.

The Scottish Rugby Union said it was working alongside the school authorities to ensure the player's family and friends receive the support they need.

Over the years there have been calls to ban scrums from rugby games because of a spate of spinal injuries. A collapsed scrum - when the interlocking forwards force each other to the ground putting pressure on players' necks and spines - is one of the chief causes of serious injury in rugby.

In 2000, a teenager from Barrhead was left paralysed when a scrum collapsed during a match for Whitecraigs under-18s.

In October last year, a clash with another player during a dive for the ball left a 16-year-old with a crushed spinal cord that paralysed him from the chest down.

According to www.hearts andballs.org.uk, one of many websites dedicated to fund-raising to help those hurt during sport, rugby-induced spinal injuries are a well- recognised occurrence.

Scrums were banned in Australian rugby league in 1996 and pressure has been put on the Scottish Rugby Union to follow suit.

The union outlawed tactics such as the "flying wedge" and the "cavalry charge" because they are potentially dangerous but the contested scrum remains legal during rugby games.

Last year, an article in the British Medical Journal called for the worldwide implementation of an innovative education scheme which cut the number of scrummaging injuries in New Zealand.

A number of extreme injuries in Britain have left coaches, players and medics urging an overhaul of the scrum.

Fears are growing that with the introduction of professionalism a decade ago, a gruelling fixture schedule, and a new breed of bigger players, the scrum has become more dangerous.

Experts say rugby coaches and referees should be educated about the dangers to reduce the risk of injuries.