Category: Injury Prevention
Rugby Science Update 19
By Lara Paul
Assessing the feasibility of a neck‐strength training intervention in university women’s rugby
The purpose of this study was to pilot a neck strengthening intervention with a university women’s rugby team. Furthermore, the study aimed to understand participant’s perceptions of the training intervention. Fourteen British University rugby union players participated in the study. A fixed‐frame dynamometer was used to assess the multi‐directional isometric neck strength in the participants. They then followed a neck-strengthening program after baseline testing. After completing the programme, they underwent end‐of‐season testing again. The neck strengthening exercises were incorporated into bi‐weekly strength and conditioning sessions and were performed at the end of the session as a team. Following the intervention, semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand the players’ experiences of the testing sessions and intervention and to provide a space for feedback on the intervention. Ten players and two coaches participated in these interviews. Neck strengthening values increased by 9.2%–26.7%, depending on direction. Both players and coaches preferred completing the neck strengthening exercises at the start to the session and in a group. Improvement in educating players and coaches about neck strengthening exercises in needed. The study found that players reported a lack of awareness of neck strength training, and coaches believed that it can only assist in scrum performance. This was a pilot study and further research is required to draw conclusive results.
This study is published in the European Journal of Sport Science – Open Access.
Injury in Starting and Replacement Players from Five Professional Men’s Rugby Unions
The aims of this study were two-fold, 1) to determine if there was an association between the number of replacements and replacement minutes used by one team in a match and the number of injuries to the opposing team, and 2) to determine whether the incidence, severity, and mean of injuries were different between starting and replacement players in professional men’s rugby. Injury and exposure data were collected from men’s professional rugby teams in England, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa for three seasons. Any replacement player with an exposure of 1 minute or longer was included as a replacement in the analysis. The study found that the use of replacements by one team did not impact the injuries sustained by the opposing team. Overall, injury incidence was similar in starting and replacement players. However, starting players had a higher injury incidence rate than replacement players in the third and fourth match quarters. This finding was attributable to the high injury rates in the starting forwards. Fatigue may be contributing to these injuries. The injury severity and burden were greater in replacements compared with starters. This study allows governing bodies to make evidence-based decisions regarding replacements and does not support any law changes about replacement in the game based on injury risk.
This study is published in Sports Medicine.
Changing gears: data-driven velocity zones to support monitoring and research in men’s rugby league
The aim of this study is twofold: 1) to apply a data-mining approach to league-wide data to identify absolute velocity zone thresholds for male rugby league players, and (2) to apply the respective velocity zones to league-wide data to examine the locomotor demands of individual playing positions within elite match-play. All match data were collected from NRL elite male rugby league players across one season. All players wore microtechnology devices. Following data collection, 10 Hz microtechnology data and match-play time-coded event statistics were analysed. After applying spectral clustering to the league-wide microtechnology dataset, the authors determined four absolute velocity zones ranging from <13.99 km·h−1 to >24.50 km·h−1. The four zones include low: 0–13.99 km·h−1; moderate: 14.00–20.99 km·h−1; high: 21.00– 24.49 km·h−1 and very-high: >24.50 km·h−1. Furthermore, they identified a high speed threshold of >21.00 km·h−1 which is 3.00 km·h−1 higher than the commonly used threshold of >18.00 km·h−1. These results will assist in preparing players for the demands of the game.
This study is published in Science and Medicine in Football.
Rugby Science Update 18
By Lara Paul
The aim of this study is to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and perceived tackle training practices of women’s rugby coaches in relation to tackle safety and performance using the Health Action Process Approach model. The study employed a pragmatic approach, integrating both quantitative and qualitative data. 357 coaches currently coaching senior women’s rugby filled out a survey consisting of 34 questions about tackle safety and performance. Coaches agreed that the risk and burden of tackle injuries are high. Unfortunately, some coaches acknowledged the lack of access to strength and conditioning and/or medical provisions. Coaches acquired their knowledge from informal and unstructured learning resources. 76% of coaches had never completed a tackle specific training course, and only 39% were aware of these courses. 76% of coaches felt confident about coaching tackler technique. Coaches expressed openness to implementing evidence-based and female-specific tackle training programmes. Some coaches mentioned the use of female specific technical, physical, psychological, and tactical adaptations during training. Barriers to effective tackle training included player training considerations, sociocultural factors, the training environment, and coach knowledge gaps. Coaches reported the time spent on controlled-contact and full-contact activities varied from 0 to 40+ min per week, averaging 10–20 min for both types of training. The authors suggested that these findings could inform female rugby coach education and implementation strategies to enhance the real-world effectiveness of tackle safety programmes in the context of women’s rugby.
This study is published in the International Journal of Sport Science and Coaching.
The aim of this review is to discusses female‐specific health considerations in injury and illness surveillance and to provide rugby specific recommendations for future surveillance. There were few studies reporting injury rates in women’s rugby. Prevention initiatives have focused on addressing injury risks identified from studies in the men’s game, rather than women’s games. Very few studies have focused and included illness reporting in their studies. The review highlights that even when a female athlete is considered ‘healthy’, there are female athlete health domains that may influence sports participation and or health outcomes. These health domains include pelvic floor health and stress urinary incontinence, breast health and breast injuries, female health domains and concussion and postpartum domain and associated health problems. A range of female specific considerations such as years of exposure, bra size, pelvic health, the menstrual cycle and pregnancy and postpartum conditions will ensure that injury and illness surveillance systems within women’s rugby fit for purpose and not simply a duplicate of systems used in men’s rugby. This approach may improve risk identification and better inform injury and illness prevention strategies.
This study is published in European Journal of Sport Science – Open Access.
Effects of tackle height and shoulder preference on head and trunk acceleration in rugby
The aim of this study was twofold; 1) to investigate the effects of tackle height and shoulder preference on head and trunk acceleration, and 2) to investigate the relationship between head and trunk acceleration during tackles. Thirty-nine senior and college rugby players participated in the study. Participants tackled an 80 kg tackle bag wearing nine-axial wireless accelerometers to measure head and trunk acceleration. They tackled on both their left and right sides at three different heights: high, middle, and low. Peak head acceleration was higher than peak trunk accelerations during the tackle. Additionally, peak trunk accelerations were delayed compared to peak head accelerations. High tackles exhibited higher peak head and trunk accelerations compared to the low tackles. Peak head acceleration was significantly lower during dominant shoulder tackles, while it was significantly higher during dominant shoulder tackles. The authors suggest that coaching strategies and policies should aim to reduce tackle height and improve tackle technique, specifically on the non-dominant shoulder, to help reduce head acceleration forces.
This study is published in International Journal of Sport Science and Coaching.
Rugby Science Update 17
By Lara Paul
The aim of this study is to examine differences in injury and concussion incidence rates between male and female youth rugby players, as well as event-specific injury and concussion incidence rates. Additionally, the study aims to investigate the association between previous rugby playing experience and tackle-related injury and concussion incidence rates. Injury surveillance was conducted for male and female players over two high school rugby seasons in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, during 2018 and 2019. The study found that females had a 62% higher overall match injury incidence rate and a twofold higher overall training injury incidence rate than the males. Concussions were the most common match injury for both females (40%) and males (38%). Furthermore, females had a 70% higher match concussion injury incidence than males. The tackle event was associated with the highest number of match and training injuries for both males and females. Female players had a higher rate of tackle-related injury than males. Interesting, injuries to the tackler were higher in matches, while injuries to the ball carrier were higher in training. Moreover, this study found that player experience has no protective effect in reducing injury or concussion incidence rate in the tackle. The authors suggested establishing a timeline for introduction of the tackle in match play for youth rugby, especially for females.
This study is published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The aim of this study is to explore how Premiership Regional Academy rugby union coaches support the development of their players’ decision making during training sessions. Five coaches from English Premiership’s Regional Academies participated in semi-structured interviews to explore coaches’ espoused theories on decision making. Video footage and audio were recorded for three training sessions using categorized systematic observations of their coaching practice. Self-confrontation interviews were used to investigate coaches’ espoused theories and theories in use as a means of reflection and justification for their practice within 48 hours of the coaching session. Key coaching events during training were reshown to the coach, and justification of their practice was encouraged via prompts. Coaches used both incidental coaching methods and intentional coaching methods. Coaches referred to the importance of designing learning activities that represent the random nature of the competitive environment. The observational data revealed misalignments between coaches espoused theories and theories in use. For example, player huddles (46.88% of all activities) were the most frequent learning activity for all the coaches. However, this also resulted in inactivity and time off the task for players. When the researchers confronted the coaches about these findings, coaches explained that huddles created opportunities for players to consider what decisions they are making, how they made them, and why they may or may not be appropriate. The authors encourage coaches to further their knowledge and understanding of coaching methods but also be skeptical of coaching methods and reflect on what is it that they do, what they are trying to achieve and why are they doing it.
This study is published in Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy.
The purpose of this study is to determine the differences in individual player match action characteristics between scholarship, academy, and senior levels of the ESL rugby league player pathway, as well as to determine differences in individual match action characteristics between players who progressed to the professional ESL level and those who did not. All data was collected from an ESL professional club across three competitive seasons (2017–2019), totaling 95 senior, 69 academy, and 23 scholarship matches. Players were categorized into two groups (ESL or Non-ESL) based on the highest level they have attained. Forty-eight match actions showed significant differences when accounting for playing position between the different playing levels. Interestingly, over seventy percent of the match characteristic differences were defensive match actions. Furthermore, the results suggest that as the playing pathway progresses from scholarship to senior level, players are expected to perform more defensive actions. A higher rate of attacking match actions were observed in academy and scholarship players who progressed to ESL level. These results may assist stakeholders in identifying and developing rugby league players. Factors such as attacking qualities should be an important component of the evaluation process for talent identification.
This study is published in International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport.
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