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Abstract:
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Objective-To investigate injuries in international rugby football.
Methods-All injuries that led to temporary stoppage of the game or to the
substitution of a player during the Rugby
World Cup prequalifying tournament
were recorded. Six matches were played,
involving the Arabian Gulf, Kenya,
Namibia, and Zimbabwe.
Results-47 injuries were recorded, giving
an injury rate of eight per match. The
number of injuries decreased from 38-3%
in the first matches to 23-4% in the final
ones. The most serious injury was a concussion and the majority of the injuries
affected soft tissues. Anatomically, the
lower limbs suffered most injuries (46-80/6),
followed by the head (21-3%), trunk
(17-0%), and upper limbs (12-8%). Slightly
more injuries occurred in the defensive
half of the field of play (53-2%) than in
the offensive half (46.8%). More injuries
occurred in the second half (61-7%) than
in the first half (38.3%).
Conclusions-Protective equipment should
be introduced to miniimise the number
and seriousness ofinjuries in rugby. |