OpenLB
Open Library of Bioscience
Advanced Search
Clinical journal of sport medicine : official journal of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine
Mar 04, 2025;

A Comparison of Suspected Injuries, Suspected Concussions, and Match Events in Male and Female Canadian High School 15s and 7s Rugby.

Taylor M Price, Stephen W West, Isla J Shill, Sharief Hendricks, Keith A Stokes, Carolyn A Emery
Author Information
  1. Taylor M Price: Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
  2. Stephen W West: Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. ORCID
  3. Isla J Shill: Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
  4. Sharief Hendricks: Division of Physiological Sciences, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
  5. Keith A Stokes: Centre for Health, and Injury & Illness Prevention in Sport, Department of Health, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom.
  6. Carolyn A Emery: Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
PMID: 40036021 DOI: 10.1097/JSM.0000000000001337

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To compare match event rates and suspected injury and concussion rates between 7-a-side (7s) and 15-a-side (15s) female and male high school rugby union players using video analysis (VA).
DESIGN: Cross-sectional video analysis study.
SETTING: Alberta high school rugby competitions.
PARTICIPANTS: Senior high school rugby players (ages 14-18 years) in Calgary, Alberta, participating in the March to June 2022 season.
ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS: Video analysis of high school rugby matches in 7s and 15s.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Univariate Poisson regression analyses were used to determine rates of match events, video-identified suspected injuries, and suspected concussions per 1000-player-hours. Incidence rates and incidence rate ratios (IRR) were used to compare between 7s and 15s (15s referent group) and females and males (male referent group).
RESULTS: Suspected injury rates ranged from 115.0 to 223.6/1000 match hours, while suspected concussion rates ranged from 61.5 to 93.2/1000 hours. The male 7s cohort reported the highest suspected injury and suspected concussion rate, with no significant differences between male or female cohorts across formats. The tackle accounted for 84.6% of all injuries. Despite 30% more tackles in female compared with male 15s, tackle-related injury rates were similar between sexes [IRR = 1.1 (95% CIs: 0.7-1.6)].
CONCLUSIONS: This study did not find any differences in suspected injury or suspected concussion rates between sexes or formats of the game. The proportion of injuries recorded in the tackle and the high reported suspected injury rates does suggest the need for further investigation into tackle proficiency, injury prevention intervention evaluation, and potential law changes.

References

  1. World Rugby. World Rugby Year in Review 2021. World Rugby; http://publications.worldrugby.org/yearinreview2021/en/46-1 (2022).
  2. Fuller CW, Taylor A, Raftery M. Epidemiology of concussion in men's elite Rugby-7s (Sevens World series) and Rugby-15s (Rugby World Cup, junior World championship and Rugby trophy, pacific nations Cup and English premiership). Br J Sports Med. 2015;49:478���483.
  3. Tucker R Rugby Sevens: Olympic debutante and research catalyst. Br J Sports Med. 2016;50:638���639.
  4. West SW, Shill IJ, Bailey S, et al. Injury rates, mechanisms, risk factors and prevention strategies in youth rugby union: what's all the ruck-us about? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2023;53:1375���1393.
  5. Shill IJ, Raisanen A, Black AM, et al. Canadian high school rugby coaches readiness for an injury prevention strategy implementation: evaluating a train-the-coach workshop. Front Sports Act Living. 2021;3:672603.
  6. Shill IJ, West SW, Sick S, et al. Injuries and concussions in female high school rugby: prevention is worth a try. Clin J Sport Med. 2021;32:508���516.
  7. West SW, Shill IJ, Sick S, et al. It takes two to Tango: high rates of injury and concussion in ball carriers and tacklers in high school boys' rugby. Clin J Sport Med. 2023;33:405���413.
  8. West SW, Shill IJ, Sutter B, et al. Caught on camera: a video assessment of suspected concussion and other injury events in women's rugby union. J Sci Med Sport. 2022;25:805���809.
  9. Shill IJ, West SW, Brown J, et al. How to harness and improve on video analysis for youth rugby player safety: a narrative review. BMJ open Sport Exerc Med. 2023;9 e001645.
  10. Tucker R, Raftery M, Fuller GW, et al. A video analysis of head injuries satisfying the criteria for a head injury assessment in professional Rugby Union: a prospective cohort study. Br J Sports Med. 2017;51:1147���1151.
  11. Cross MJ, Tucker R, Raftery M, et al. Tackling concussion in professional rugby union: a case-control study of tackle-based risk factors and recommendations for primary prevention. Br J Sports Med. 2019;53:1021���1025.
  12. Read DB, Jones B, Williams S, et al. The physical characteristics of specific phases of play during rugby union match play. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2018;13()(13):1331���1336.
  13. Hendricks S, O'Connor S, Lambert M, et al. Video analysis of concussion injury mechanism in under-18 rugby. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2016;2:e000053.
  14. Hendricks S, O'Connor S, Lambert M, et al. Contact technique and concussions in the South African under-18 coca-cola craven week rugby tournament. Eur J Sports Sci. 2015;15:557���564.
  15. den Hollander S, Jones B, Lambert M, et al. The what and how of video analysis research in rugby union: a critical review. Sports Med Open. 2018;4:27.
  16. West SW, Shill IJ, Clermont C, et al. Same name, same game, but is it different? An investigation of female rugby union match events in Canadian varsity players. Int J Sports Sci Coaching. 2021;17:1119���1127.
  17. Hendricks S, Till K, den Hollander S, et al. Consensus on a video analysis framework of descriptors and definitions by the rugby union video analysis consensus group. Br J Sports Med. 2020;54:566���572.
  18. Davis GA, Makdissi M, Bloomfield P, et al. International consensus definitions of video signs of concussion in professional sports. Br J Sports Med. 2019;53:1264���1267.
  19. Arnason A, Tenga A, Engebretsen L, et al. A prospective video-based analysis of injury situations in elite male football: Football incident analysis. Am J Sports Med. 2004;32:1459���1465.
  20. World Rugby. Concussion guideline. Accessed 22 September, 2021.
  21. World Rugby. Head Injury Assessment (HIA) Protocol. World Rugby; https://www.sareferees.com/uploads/files/Eugene%202017/180326%20HIA%20Protocol%20and%20Procedures.pdf (2024).
  22. CISG. 5 Crt. Concussion recognition tool 5. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2017;51:872.
  23. StataCorp LP. Statacorp Stata Stat Softw Release. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP. 2020.
  24. Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 Statistical Report. 2017. https://playerwelfare.worldrugby.org/?documentid=156
  25. Pollock AM, White AJ, Kirkwood G. Evidence in support of the call to ban the tackle and harmful contact in school rugby: a response to World Rugby. Br J Sports Med. 2017;51:1113���1117.
  26. Bradley S. High School Rugby Cancelled across Nova Scotia Due to Safety Concerns. CBC News. 2021. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/rugby-federation-cancels-games-1.5120503
  27. Shill IJ, West SW, Sick S, et al. Differences in injury and concussion rates in a cohort of Canadian female and male youth Rugby Union: a step towards targeted prevention strategies. Br J Sports Med. 2023;58:34���41.
  28. Bullock GS, Emery CA, Nelson VR, et al. Higher rates of concussion following COVID-19 infection in high school athletes. Br J Sports Med. 2023;57:590���594.
  29. Quarrie K, Gianotti S, Murphy I. Injury risk in New Zealand rugby union: a nationwide study of injury insurance claims from 2005 to 2017. Sports Med. 2020;50:415���428.
  30. Hendricks S, Emery C, Jones B, et al. ���Tackling��� rugby safety through a collective approach. Br J Sports Med. 2023;57:562���563.

Grants

  1. /Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Canada Excellence Research Chairs, Government of Canada
Journal Article
Article has an altmetric score of 7

Word Cloud

Created with Highcharts 10.0.0ratessuspectedinjury15s7smalehighconcussionschoolrugbymatchfemaleanalysisinjuriesSuspectedtacklecompareplayersvideostudyAlbertausedratereferentgroupranged0hoursreporteddifferencesformatssexes1OBJECTIVE:event7-a-side15-a-sideunionusingVADESIGN:Cross-sectionalSETTING:competitionsPARTICIPANTS:Seniorages14-18yearsCalgaryparticipatingMarchJune2022seasonASSESSMENTOFRISKFACTORS:VideomatchesMAINOUTCOMEMEASURES:UnivariatePoissonregressionanalysesdetermineeventsvideo-identifiedconcussionsper1000-player-hoursIncidenceincidenceratiosIRRfemalesmalesRESULTS:1152236/1000615932/1000cohorthighestsignificantcohortsacrossaccounted846%Despite30%tacklescomparedtackle-relatedsimilar[IRR=95%CIs:7-16]CONCLUSIONS:findgameproportionrecordedsuggestneedinvestigationproficiencypreventioninterventionevaluationpotentiallawchangesComparisonInjuriesConcussionsMatchEventsMaleFemaleCanadianHighSchoolRugby

Similar Articles

Cited By

No available data.