Abstract
Rugby Union is a popular sport played by males and females worldwide, from junior to elite levels. The highly physical skill of tackling occurs every few seconds throughout a match and various injuries associated with tackling are relatively common. Of particular interest are head injuries that result in a concussion. Recently, repeated non-injurious head impacts in sport have attracted the attention of researchers interested in brain health. Therefore, this study assessed head movement during repeated rugby tackle drills among experienced Rugby Union players. Experienced male and female participants performed 15 1-on-1 tackles in a motion analysis laboratory to measure the head movements of the ball carrier and tackler during each tackle, using three-dimensional motion capture. The average peak acceleration of the head for ball carriers was 28.9 ± 24.08 g and 36.67 ± 28.91 g for the tacklers. This study found that the type of head impacts common while performing a tackle in Rugby Union are similar to those experienced by soccer players during heading, which has been found to alter brain function that lasts hours after the event. This has important implications for player health and suggests that mitigation strategies should be considered for Rugby Union.
Highlights
IntroductionTackling is a fundamental component of Rugby Union ( termed “rugby”)
Our results show that while there was no statistically significant difference in HrT between the groups, there was a tendency for slightly higher HrT in the tackling group compared with the ball carriers and peak neck-flexion torque, neck flexion-to-extension ratio and neck girth significantly correlated with head acceleration
This study showed that tacklers may be exposed to higher HrT accelerations compared with ball carriers in a single bout of rugby tackling
Summary
Tackling is a fundamental component of Rugby Union ( termed “rugby”). These high-intensity physical contests occur when an attacking player in possession of the ball is brought to the ground by one or more defending players [1]. The tackle is the most common contact event in rugby, with a single player exposed to between 10–25 tackles per game [2,3]. Due to the frequency and physicality of these contact events, players are exposed to a relatively high risk of injury, with tackling responsible for a large majority of all injuries in rugby [1,4]. Of particular concern is the risk of head injury, which can occur during a tackle and, despite specific rules to minimise the risk of head injury during a tackle, this event still has the highest association with head injury, responsible for 84% of all head injuries in rugby [5]
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