Is rugby a sport for girls?

At the tender age of four, my daughter has been convinced by my husband that she should play rugby. I'm not impressed! Although I agree that she probably would be great at it - she's very fast, has lots of energy and stamina and is pretty fearless. But that's not the point. She's a girl, with a cute, pretty face. What if she gets cuts and bruises? Or even worse, a broken nose? Or cauliflowever ears? I'm not alone in my fear. Most mums I've spoken to feel exactly the same way.
My son frequently returns from rugby with tales of how someone stood on his head and often has bumps and bruises. Fortunately he's never been seriously injured. Although even at his age there have been some serious injuries. One boy was airlifted off the pitch at a recent mini rugby festival, after landing awkwardly on the hard ground. But even though there is a risk of serious injury, and I occasionally worry that it is him lying on the ground, not moving, I am fine with my son playing rugby. It is something that boys do. A sport for 'real' boys and men.
Perhaps that's were my objections really lie. It's a masculine sport, not very ladylike. Maybe I'm just trying to encourage my little girl to be a princess for the rest of her life, focusing on ballet and gymnastics. But steering clear of sports viewed as masculine.
I shouldn't really be surprised that my daughter wants to play rugby. My husband (an ex-professional) and son are rugby-mad. They are constantly practicing in the garden and it is frequently on the television.
I, too, am not free of blame. As a youngster I was very sporty and when I went to university I was keen to continue my main passion, athletics. Unfortunately there wasn't the opportunity for me to do so. Despite my attempts to train, following a personalised programme written by my dedicated athletics coach, it wasn't much fun training by myself. Gradually I let it slide and my fitness levels fell too. So I looked for another sport which I could do. I never liked netball - I didn't like the restrictions imposed. Hockey wasn't for me either. I had played at school but found I was constantly injuring my ankles.
One day I found myself pondering whether to try out rugby. Rugby was an important sport at my university and I found myself signing up to it. In hindsight, I must have been mad. I didn't consider the possibility of injury at all. To be honest, I'm a bit of a girlie girl when it comes to pain and injury. And after a number of hard tackles and finger sprains, I lost interest. Indeed the only part I really enjoyed was the fitness - I loved both the long run at the beginning and the sprint training. Mostly as I like winning and found that I was fitter than the rest of the girls!
I think my daughter is a lot braver than me. But maybe I should share my injuries with her as a warning ...