ArticleInjury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention2023
Tackling sport-related concussion: effectiveness of lowering the maximum legal height of the tackle in amateur male rugby - a cross-sectional analytical study.
Article in Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Prevention strategies and modifiable risk factors for concussion: a systematic review and meta-analysis for the Female, woman and girl/or Athlete Injury pRevention (FAIR) consensus.British journal of sports medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluating the Use of In-Game Rule Changes as a Primary Prevention Approach to Reduce Injury Risk in Invasion Team Sports: A Scoping Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Women's 2023 and 2024 WXV international rugby competitions: injury surveillance study.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Decoding the Tackle: Using a Machine Learning Approach to Understand Direct Head Contact Events in Elite Women's Rugby.European journal of sport science · 2025Article
- Tackle Height and Tackle Success-An Analysis of 52,204 Tackle Events.European journal of sport science · 2025Article
- Tackle characteristics and suspected concussion: recommendations to improve high school girls' rugby tackle safety.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 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
- High tackle headache: implications of referee agreement for tackle height law change.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2025Article
- Lowered tackle height law variation in Scottish men's community rugby: a video analysis evaluation of 18 702 tackles across two seasons.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2025Article
- Head injury assessment in youth men's rugby league players: An evaluation of game play characteristics and video review of potential concussion signs.JSAMS plus · 2024Article
- The application of match-event and instrumented mouthguard data to inform match limits: An example using rugby union Premiership and rugby league Super League data from England.European journal of sport science · 2024Article
- Tackle Risk Factors for Head Injury Assessments (HIAs) in Sub-Elite Rugby League and Recommendations for Prevention: Head Contacts from Upright Tackles Increase the HIA Risk to Both Ball Carrier and Tackler.Sports medicine - open · 2024Article
- Instrumented mouthguards in elite-level men's and women's rugby union: characterising tackle-based head acceleration events.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- Sanctioned illegal high tackles significantly increase concussion risk to both tacklers and ball carriers in elite men's Rugby Union.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- Innovation in sport medicine and science: a global social network analysis of stakeholder collaboration in rugby union.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- How to harness and improve on video analysis for youth rugby player safety: a narrative review.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveRugby union ('rugby') is popular globally, with most of its participants being amateur. Concern regarding sport-related concussion (SRC) sustained during rugby is increasing. SRC occurs most frequently in the tackle, yet few interventions have aimed to mitigate this risk factor. This study investigated the influence of a lowered legal tackle height on SRC incidence in amateur rugby.
designCross-sectional analytical study: 2018 (control-standard tackle height) and 2019 (intervention-lowered legal tackle height) seasons.
settingSouth African collegiate student rugby competition.
participantsBetween 800 and 900 male amateur student players (age: 20±1.6 years) in each year.
interventionMaximum legal tackle height lowered from line of the shoulder on the ball carrier to the line of the armpit. OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of overall (medical attention) and time-loss (≥1 day lost) injuries, head injuries and SRCs in 2018 and 2019 (dependent variables); events associated with injury incidents (independent variables).
resultsThere was no statistically significant difference in incidences of time-loss injuries (IRR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.6 to 1.1; p=0.13), head injuries (IRR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.5 to 1.3; p=0.42) and SRC (IRR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.4 to 1.2; p=0.20). In 2018 and 2019, most time-loss head injuries (57%, n=43) and SRCs (55%, n=26) occurred during the tackle.
conclusionsDespite a trend towards reducing injuries, head injuries and SRC, lowering maximum legal tackle height to armpit level did not change SRC incidence in this amateur male rugby cohort. Most time-loss head injuries and SRCs occurred during the tackle. Further tackle-related interventions to reduce SRC incidence require investigation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.