Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42455427›Full record

ArticleSports medicine - open2026

Head Acceleration Event Exposure during Pre-Season Training in Elite Men's Rugby Union.

Samuel Hudson, Gregory Roe, Matt Cross, Ben Jones, Simon Kemp, Keith Stokes

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Article in Sports medicine - open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Samuel HudsonCentre for Health and Injury and Illness Prevention in Sport, University of Bath, Bath, UK. sjh241@bath.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0841-7009
Gregory RoeCarnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1428-9282
Matt CrossCarnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.
Ben JonesCarnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4274-6236
Simon KempRugby Football Union, Twickenham, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3250-2713
Keith StokesCentre for Health and Injury and Illness Prevention in Sport, University of Bath, Bath, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5049-2838

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHead acceleration event (HAE) outcomes in elite men's rugby union have been well described during matches and in-season training but have not been investigated during pre-season training.

objectivesDescribe HAE incidence and magnitude during elite men's pre-season rugby union training.

methodData was collected from three English PREM Rugby clubs (44 training sessions and 53 players) during field-based training sessions using instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) throughout the pre-season training period before the 2025-26 season. Training drills were recorded using routinely tagged GPS data. The incidence of HAEs was calculated per player minute, for forwards and backs, and during training sessions during the first, middle, and final three-week phases of pre-season. A negative binomial generalised linear mixed model compared playing position, and phases of pre-season, expressed as incidence rate ratios (IRR).

resultsThe magnitude of HAEs were positively skewed. The mean incidence of HAEs ≥ 5 g and ≥ 0.4 krad/s

conclusionThe incidence and magnitude of HAEs during pre-season is very low compared to matches and similar to in-season training. Future work should identify players who accumulate more HAEs in matches and training compared to the rest of the population, and why. This study completes a holistic understanding of HAE exposure throughout a season, which can be used to benchmark individual's exposure against.

Indexed as

Head acceleration eventInstrumented mouthguardPre-seasonRugby unionTraining

Identifiers

PMID42455427
PMCPMC13373118

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Registered trials

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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.