ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2025
Lowered tackle height law variation in Scottish men's community rugby: a video analysis evaluation of 18 702 tackles across two seasons.
Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Shoulder injuries in rugby union: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2026Pooled 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
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background/objectives: The tackle has the highest risk and causes the most concussions in rugby union. As such, law variation prevention strategies aiming to reduce head contact have been introduced. This study investigated whether a law variation lowering the maximum legal height of the tackle, from the shoulder to the base of the sternum, was an effective approach to change players' tackling behaviour and reduce head contact events in Scottish men's community rugby. Methods: This retrospective video analysis study compared game metrics and tackle characteristics from the pre (2022/2023) to lowered tackle height (LTH) season (2023/2024). Sixty games were analysed (30 each season), variables coded for the tackle event included tackle type, body position, contact point and head contact. Results: The rate of bent at waist tackling increased during the LTH season (rate ratio (RR)=1.22 (95% CI 1.17 to 1.27)), which resulted in tacklers making initial contact with the ball carriers' lower torso or arms more often (RR=1.08 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.14)). While overall tackler head contact to the ball carrier (any region) increased (RR=1.12 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.18)), head-to-head contacts with the ball carrier decreased (RR=0.55 (95% CI 0.33 to 0.92)) and head to upper leg contacts increased (RR=1.39 (95% CI 1.24 to 1.56)). Conclusions: Lowering the maximum legal height of the tackle in men's community rugby led to increased rates of bent at waist tackling, resulting in more tackles making initial contact with the ball carrier's lower torso and legs. This change in behaviour likely reduced the rate of contact between tackler and ball carrier heads.
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