Abstract

The injuries sustained during one season by players at an Ulster Senior Rugby Club were documented with reference to time of injury, phase of play, team position, and nature of injury. The overall injury pattern in Irish rugby as found in this study is broadly comparable with that in similar studies in England and Scotland. Eighty-four players were injured in total. Three of these had fractures of which one required hospital admission for open reduction of a fractured wrist. The remaining eighty-one players had various types and grades of soft-tissue damage. The tackle accounted for approximately one-third of all injuries. There were few serious injuries and none involving the spine. Injuries to forwards made up almost sixty per cent of the total.