ArticleBritish journal of sports medicine2007
Contact events in rugby union and their propensity to cause injury.
Article in British journal of sports medicine, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Differences in Injury Incidence Between Player Positions Across All Rugby Formats-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2025Pooled it
- Quantifying Collision Frequency and Intensity in Rugby Union and Rugby Sevens: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine - open · 2022Pooled it
- Match and Training Injuries in Women's Rugby Union: A Systematic Review of Published Studies.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2019Pooled it
- Assessing Head/Neck Dynamic Response to Head Perturbation: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2018Pooled it
- The Incidence of Injury in Amateur Male Rugby Union: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2018Pooled it
- Intervention Strategies Used in Sport Injury Prevention Studies: A Systematic Review Identifying Studies Applying the Haddon Matrix.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2017Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of injuries in senior men's professional Rugby Union.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2013Pooled it
- Epidemiology of adolescent rugby injuries: a systematic review.Journal of athletic trainingPooled it
- Analysis of Ruck Contact Exposure and Technical-Tactical Behaviors Related to Match Outcome in International Rugby Union.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Biomechanical Profiles of Diagnosed Concussions in Rugby Union: A Case Study Using Instrumented Mouthguards.Sports medicine - open · 2026Article
- Contact Role and Tackle Characteristics Shape Head Acceleration Exposure in Male Community Rugby: A Cohort Study Utilising Instrumented Mouthguards.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Observational
- Head Acceleration Event Magnitude and Incidence Rate in Academy Rugby Union: A Comparison Across Club and International Competition.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Anatomical spatial-temporal distribution and multivariate risk of acute injuries in elite rugby: a cohort based on prospective surveillance.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Women's 2023 and 2024 WXV international rugby competitions: injury surveillance study.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Article
- Breast-Related Issues in Community-Based Women's Rugby Union.European journal of sport science · 2025Article
- Computational Modelling of Protected and Unprotected Head Impacts in Rugby.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Lowering the maximum legal tackle height in Scottish community women's rugby: an injury surveillance and video analysis study across two seasons.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2025Article
- Clinical and ultrasonographic evaluation of uninjured dominant shoulder in amateur rugby players vs a control group: a pilot study.Journal of ultrasound · 2024Article
- At-Risk Tackling Techniques and Effectiveness in English Premiership Rugby.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2024Article
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe objective of this study was to determine the incidence of contact events in professional rugby union matches and to assess their propensity to cause injury.
designThe study was a two-season (2003/2004 and 2005/2006) prospective cohort design. It included 645 professional rugby union players from 13 English Premiership rugby union clubs. The main outcome measures were: incidence of match contact events (events per game); incidence (injuries per 1000 player-hours and per 1000 contact events), risk (days lost per 1000 player-hours and per 1000 contact events) and diagnosis of injury; referee's decision. Risk factors were player-player contact, position on pitch and period of play.
resultsTackles (221.0 events/game) and rucks (142.5 events/game) were the most common events and mauls (13.6%) and scrums (12.6%) the most penalised. Tackles (701.6 days/1000 player-hours) were responsible for the greatest loss of time but scrums (213.2 days lost/1000 events) and collisions (199.8 days lost/1000 events) presented the highest risk per event.
conclusionsTackles were the game event responsible for the highest number of injuries and the greatest loss of time in rugby union because they were by far the most common contact event. Collisions were 70% more likely to result in an injury than a tackle and scrums carried a 60% greater risk of injury than a tackle. The relative propensities for contact events to cause injury were rated as: lineout--very low; ruck--low; maul and tackle--average; collision and scrum--high.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.