ORIGINAL ARTICLE

A prospective study of injuries and training amongst the England 2003 Rugby World Cup squad

J H M Brooks¹, C W Fuller¹, S P T Kemp² and D B Reddin²

¹ University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7QA, UK
² Rugby Football Union, Rugby Road, Twickenham TWI 1DS, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Colin W Fuller
University of Leicester, Scarman Centre, 154 Upper New Walk, Leicester LE1 7QA, UK; cwf2{at}le.ac.uk

Objectives: To assess the aetiology, incidence, severity, and causes of injuries to England rugby union players during preparation for and participation in the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

Method: A 63 week prospective design was employed to study the training practices and injuries of England rugby players. The team physician reported all training and match injuries and provided details of the location, diagnosis, severity, and mechanism of each injury. The team fitness coach reported details of the number and duration of training sessions and the time dedicated to rugby and conditioning training. Players’ stature, body mass, and skinfolds were measured at the beginning and end of the study period.

Results: The overall incidence of injury was 17 injuries/1000 h of exposure (match: 218 injuries/1000 h; training: 6.1 injuries/1000 h). The major locations of injuries were the lower (60%) and upper (17%) limbs and the most common diagnoses were muscle and tendon (50%) and joint (non-bone) and ligament (41%) injuries. The highest incidences of match injuries occurred whilst being tackled (50 injuries/1000 h) and in a ruck or maul (35 injuries/1000 h), whilst the greatest incidences of training injuries occurred during endurance running (24 injuries/1000 h) and contact activities (20 injuries/1000 h). Players’ average body mass increased and skinfold measurement decreased significantly over the study period.

Conclusions: The incidence of match injuries at international level was found to be higher than previously reported. The tackle, ruck, and maul elements of match play and the endurance running and contact elements of training presented the highest risk of injury for all players.

Keywords: competition; elite rugby; injury; risk factors; training

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

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Hammond, L E, Lilley, J, Ribbans, W J (2009). Coding sports injury surveillance data: has version 10 of the Orchard Sports Injury Classification System improved the classification of sports medicine diagnoses?. Br. J. Sports. Med. 43: 498-502 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kerr, H A, Curtis, C, Micheli, L J, Kocher, M S, Zurakowski, D, Kemp, S P T, Brooks, J H M (2008). Collegiate rugby union injury patterns in New England: a prospective cohort study. Br. J. Sports. Med. 42: 595-603 [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]  
• 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]  
• 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]  
• (2007). BASEM 2006 Annual Conference. Br. J. Sports. Med. 41: 118-124 [Full Text]  
• Brooks, J. H. M., Fuller, C. W., Kemp, S. P. T., Reddin, D. B. (2006). Incidence, Risk, and Prevention of Hamstring Muscle Injuries in Professional Rugby Union. Am J Sports Med 34: 1297-1306 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Neville, V J, Molloy, J, Brooks, J H M, Speedy, D B, Atkinson, G, Spalding, T, Allen, J B (2006). Epidemiology of injuries and illnesses in America's Cup yacht racing * Commentary * Commentary.. Br. J. Sports. Med. 40: 304-312 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Brooks, J H M, Fuller, C W, Kemp, S P T, Reddin, D B (2005). Epidemiology of injuries in English professional rugby union: part 1 match injuries. Br. J. Sports. Med. 39: 757-766 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Brooks, J H M, Fuller, C W, Kemp, S P T, Reddin, D B (2005). Epidemiology of injuries in English professional rugby union: part 2 training Injuries. Br. J. Sports. Med. 39: 767-775 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Marcovitch, H. (2005). What's new this month in BMJ Journals. BMJ 330: 1353-1353 [Full Text]