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 Rugby is a fast-moving and high intensity team sport. Traditionally played by males, rugby is gaining popularity among female athletes ,particularly in schools and colleges
Over 40% of injuries are muscular strains or contusions (bruising), 30%are sprains, followed by dislocations,fractures, lacerations,and overuse injuries
.Percent of Injuries by location on the body:Head/face/neck - adults 24%, children27%Upper limb – adults 21%, children 31%Trunk – adults 5%, children18%Lower limb – adults 48%, children 22%Other – 2%Sprained and strained ankles are a common injury with ankle sprains representing almost 1 in 7 rugby injuries .
Between 5 -25% of rugby injuries are head injuries, including concussions .
In youth aged 10-18 years,35% of injuries are fractures, of which 24% involve the clavicle.
Superficial injuries represent 20% of rugby injuries, followed by head injuries and sprains (16%). Of the head injuries,44% are concussions.
As many as 1 in 4 rugby players will be injured during the season On average each player performs 20-40 tackles per match Rugby injury rates are reported to be nearly three times higher than soccer.
Most injuries are experienced by youth aged 10-18 years. Adults aged 25–34 years of age have also been found to be at high risk.
More injuries occur during matches(57%) than in training, and more often n the second half of the game.
Approximately half of all injuries occur while a player is tackling or being tackled.
Hookers and flankers sustain the most injuries. Forwards are more frequently injured than backs because of their greater involvement in physical collisions and tackles.In the backs, wings, fullbacks and centres are at the highest risk of injury. In the scrum, the locks are at greatest risk of facia lcuts and cauliflower ear Players in rucks and mauls commonly suffer injuries to fingers and thumbs as well as abrasions and lacerations from cleats.
Almost 25% of neck injuries occur when there is a mismatch in experience between the two opposing front rows.
A lower ranked or less skilled team within the division, a forward position, being tackled, and beginning of the autumn or spring season are risk factors for rugby injuries.
Preparation is important More injuries occur at the beginning of a season,suggesting that pre-season conditioning could reduce injuries.A pre-season conditioning program should gradually increase in intensity and duration to prepare athletes for competition.
Injury prevention strategies to reduce the incidence, severity and cost of rugby injuries could include coaching on defensive skills, correct tackling technique, correct falling technique and methods to minimize the absorption of impact forces in tackles.Only more experienced players should play the front row positionthat require significant practice to master the skills of scrummaging and tackling.To reduce scrummaging injuries at lower rugby levels, props should crouch, touch, pause and then engage. This technique is called Depowering the Scrum. Another alternative is Sequential Engagement where the front rows engage first and then the second row joins in, so that a stable scrum is established. The use of mouth guards appears to lower the risk of orofacial injury Support sleeves tend to reduce the risk of sprains and strains.
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