SynthesisScandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports2025
Differences in Injury Incidence Between Player Positions Across All Rugby Formats-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 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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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
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline 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
- Sport-related Concussion Characteristics and Time-loss Among Male and Female Community Rugby Union Players Across 6 Seasons.Sports health · 2026Article
- Effects of One Season of Rugby on the Neurological Integrity of Male Adolescent Players.Sports medicine - open · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Rugby is a high-intensity contact sport with a high incidence of injuries. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare the injury incidences between forwards and backs in all rugby formats (Rugby Union, Seven, and League). The PubMed (National Library of Medicine), Web of Science (Clarivate), Scopus (Elsevier), and SPORTDiscus (EBSCO) databases were searched from inception to October 10, 2024. A study was eligible if the number of rugby injuries per exposure time for backs and forwards was reported. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were compared between forwards and backs. After screening 1514 studies, a total of 49 studies were included. The total exposure time was 902 280 player-hours for backs and 1 127 610 player-hours for forwards. Forwards had a slightly higher incidence of injuries in Rugby Union (IRR 1.03, CI 1.00-1.06) and Rugby League (IRR 1.31, CI 1.23-1.41). However, forwards had a lower overall incidence of injuries in Rugby Sevens (pooled IRR 0.78, CI 0.73-0.85). Strain injuries and injuries caused by tackling, running, or collision were more common in backs across rugby formats. In addition to a more standardized definition of injuries and more comprehensive subgroup analyses in future studies, different trends and patterns in injury occurrence regarding playing positions in all rugby formats should be further studied to develop more targeted injury prevention strategies in forwards and backs. Trial Registration: The study protocol was prospectively registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42025645250).
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