Less?.
Sorry but that’s nonsense. And my chiropractic cousins in Australia and England will agree with me.
Every year, several major players in Union alone have to retire early because of major knee, back, ankle, neck and shoulder injuries.
Not to mention broken necks!. In fact broken necks, esp at scrums, are still so prevalent that some are calling for scrums to be outlawed.
Scotland alone has lost two great young internationals to broken necks (Max Evans and Joe Ansbro)in just the last three years. Both the result of bone crunching tackles at speed.
No rugby, union and league, up down and across the leagues and the rugby world, is a sport littered with badly injured players.
Over the long term, you may be correct, but in my experience, far more players leave the pitch for injuries during an American football match than a rugby match. During my playing years, I broke eight of my ten fingers, fibula, and nose; had reconstructive shoulder surgery (which is why I lost a spring and fall season); multiple gashes that required stitches; and more concussions than I can remember (there's a joke there someplace). In my retirement, I have now had a second shoulder reconstruction, lower back surgery, and both hips replaced. No question, rugby takes a long-term toll on the body that is second to no other sport. But, during my playing days, I rarely saw anyone leave the match on a stretcher or even pull themselves from a match because of an injury (although I was yanked from what turned out to be the last match of my career because of a double fracture of the fibula).