Contact technique and concussions in the South African under‐18 Coca‐Cola Craven Week Rugby tournament

Abstract

In rugby union, understanding the techniques and events leading to concussions is important because of the nature of the injury and the severity and potential long-term consequences, particularly in junior players. Proper contact technique is a prerequisite for successful participation in rugby and is a major factor associated with injury. However, the execution of proper contact technique and its relationship to injury has yet to be studied in matches. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare contact techniques leading to concussion with a representative sample of similarly matched non-injury (NI) contact events. Injury surveillance was conducted at the 2011-2013 under-18 Craven Week Rugby tournaments. Video footage of 10 concussive events (5 tackle, 4 ruck and 1 aerial collision) and 83 NI events were identified (19 tackle, 61 ruck and 3 aerial collisions). Thereafter, each phase of play was analysed using standardised technical proficiency criteria. Overall score for ruck proficiency in concussive events was 5.67 (out of a total of 15) vs. 6.98 for NI events (n = 54) (effect size = 0.52, small). Overall average score for tackler proficiency was 7.25 (n = 4) and 6.67 (n = 15) for injury and NI tackles, respectively (out of 16) (effect size = 0.19, trivial). This is the first study to compare concussion injury contact technique to a player-matched sample of NI contact techniques. Certain individual technical criteria had an effect towards an NI outcome, and others had an effect towards a concussive event, highlighting that failure to execute certain techniques may substantially increase the opportunity for concussion.

Injury risk and a tackle ban in youth Rugby Union: reviewing the evidence and searching for targeted, effective interventions. A critical review

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Evidence in support of the call to ban the tackle and harmful contact in school rugby: a response to World Rugby

“…They analysed a total of 6618 tackle events, of which 81 resulted in injury, and found no statistical evidence of any difference in the odds of receiving an injury during an active shoulder tackle compared with any one of passive shoulder tackle, jersey tackle, ankle tap or smother (p>0.05 for each); the only association with technique was an increased risk of injury when a player was tackled by two players simultaneously as opposed to being tackled by a single tackler 51. Tucker et al cite a small study by Hendricks et al which found weak evidence of an association between tackler proficiency and likelihood of concussion 49. Burger et al did find evidence that improved tackle technique on the part of both the ball carrier and the tackler was associated with reduced risk of injury 48.…”

Risk factors for head injury events in professional rugby union: a video analysis of 464 head injury events to inform proposed injury prevention strategies

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