Injuries in Australian school-level rugby union

Abstract

There is a high incidence of injuries in rugby union due to the physical nature of the game. In youth rugby union, there are large variations in injury rates reported. Our study investigated the rates of injuries in school-level rugby union players in Australia using the consensus statement for rugby union injuries. Injury surveillance was conducted on 480 rugby players from 1 school in Queensland, Australia. Injury data were collected using paper-based injury recording forms during the 8-week rugby season using a "medical-attention" injury definition. In total, 76 players sustained one or more injuries, with a total of 80 injuries recorded. The overall injury rate was 31.8 injuries/1000 match player hours (95% CI, 25.4-39.4). Concussion had an incidence rate of 6.0/1000 match player hours (95% CI, 3.5-9.6). The incidence of upper limb and lower limb injuries were 9.1 and 9.9/1000 match player hours, respectively (95% CI, 5.9-13.5 and 6.6-14.5). The older age divisions had higher injury rates and most injuries occurred while tackling or being tackled. The injury rates observed in this sample of Australian school rugby union players provides direction for future studies to enable informed decisions relating to development of injury prevention programmes at this level of rugby.

Lay of the land: narrative synthesis of tackle research in rugby union and rugby sevens

“…103 117 For example, Seminati et al reported a 13% higher impact force from the dominant shoulder. 132 Players seem to have poorer shoulder positional sense of their non-dominant shoulder while tackling 133 and adopt a more passive biomechanical strategy to generate the drive needed to stop a ball carrier. 132 As such, tackles on the dominant shoulder produce higher impact forces on contact, whereas the non-dominant shoulder produces force over longer durations.…”

“…132 Players seem to have poorer shoulder positional sense of their non-dominant shoulder while tackling 133 and adopt a more passive biomechanical strategy to generate the drive needed to stop a ball carrier. 132 As such, tackles on the dominant shoulder produce higher impact forces on contact, whereas the non-dominant shoulder produces force over longer durations. 132 In addition, tackles on the non-dominant shoulder were characterised by less control of head movement, which had a more flexed and laterally bent position compared with tackles on the dominant shoulder.…”

“…132 As such, tackles on the dominant shoulder produce higher impact forces on contact, whereas the non-dominant shoulder produces force over longer durations. 132 In addition, tackles on the non-dominant shoulder were characterised by less control of head movement, which had a more flexed and laterally bent position compared with tackles on the dominant shoulder. 132…”

“…132 In addition, tackles on the non-dominant shoulder were characterised by less control of head movement, which had a more flexed and laterally bent position compared with tackles on the dominant shoulder. 132…”

High-school adolescents’ motivation to rugby participation and selection criteria for inclusion in school rugby teams: coaches’ perspective (the SCRuM project)

“…Rugby union (rugby) is a popular sport among schoolboys worldwide [1–3]. Today, schoolboy rugby players are playing more competitive matches and have better physical attributes than before [4–6].…”