ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Rugby World Cup 2003 injury surveillance project

J P Best¹, A S McIntosh² and T N Savage²

¹ The Australian Rugby Union, Sydney, Australia
² School of Safety Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Andrew McIntosh
School of Safety Science, UNSW, Sydney, Australia 2052; a.mcintosh{at}unsw.edu.au

Objectives: To study match injury patterns and incidence during the Rugby World Cup 2003 (RWC 2003); to compare these patterns and rates with comparative rugby injury data; and to assess differences between teams playing at different levels (eight finalists v 12 non-finalists).

Methods: Data were collected prospectively during the tournament. All injuries were recorded by the 20 participating team physicians. These were submitted to the tournament medical officer. An injury was defined as an event which forced a player either to leave the field or to miss a subsequent game or both.

Results: 189 injuries were recorded over 48 matches. This corresponds to 97.9 injuries per 1000 player-hours. Pool matches yielded a higher injury rate than non-pool matches. The 12 non-finalist teams sustained significantly higher injury rates than the eight finalist teams. The player positions open side flanker, inside centre, and number 8 were the most frequently injured positions. There was a low concussion rate, which may reflect under-reporting. The non-finalist teams had a higher rate of recurrent injury.

Conclusions: The injury rate was higher than comparative data. Mismatches in the areas of skill, fitness, and the availability of resources for medical care of players may explain these differences.

Keywords: rugby; injury; international sport

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Sankey, R. A., Brooks, J. H. M., Kemp, S. P. T., Haddad, F. S. (2008). The Epidemiology of Ankle Injuries in Professional Rugby Union Players. Am J Sports Med 36: 2415-2424 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Fuller, C W, Laborde, F, Leather, R J, Molloy, M G (2008). International Rugby Board Rugby World Cup 2007 injury surveillance study. Br. J. Sports. Med. 42: 452-459 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Junge, A, Engebretsen, L, Alonso, J M, Renstrom, P, Mountjoy, M, Aubry, M, Dvorak, J (2008). Injury surveillance in multi-sport events: the International Olympic Committee approach. Br. J. Sports. Med. 42: 413-421 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Schick, D M, Molloy, M G, Wiley, J P (2008). Injuries during the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup. Br. J. Sports. Med. 42: 447-451 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Fuller, C. W, Brooks, J. H M, Cancea, R. J, Hall, J., Kemp, S. P T (2007). Contact events in rugby union and their propensity to cause injury. Br. J. Sports. Med. 41: 862-867 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Athanasopoulos, S., Kapreli, E., Tsakoniti, A., Karatsolis, K., Diamantopoulos, K., Kalampakas, K., Pyrros, D. G, Parisis, C., Strimpakos, N. (2007). The 2004 Olympic Games: physiotherapy services in the Olympic Village polyclinic. Br. J. Sports. Med. 41: 603-609 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Dallalana, R. J., Brooks, J. H. M., Kemp, S. P. T., Williams, A. M. (2007). The Epidemiology of Knee Injuries in English Professional Rugby Union. Am J Sports Med 35: 818-830 [Abstract] [Full Text]