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Match and Training Injuries in Women’s Rugby Union: A Systematic Review of Published Studies

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Abstract

Background

There is a paucity of studies reporting on women’s injuries in rugby union.

Objective

The aim of this systematic review was to describe the injury epidemiology for women’s rugby-15s and rugby-7s match and training environments.

Methods

Systematic searches of PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, CINAHL(EBSCO) and ScienceDirect databases using keywords.

Results

Ten articles addressing the incidence of injury in women’s rugby union players were retrieved and included. The pooled incidence of injuries in women’s rugby-15s was 19.6 (95% CI 17.7–21.7) per 1000 match-hours (h). Injuries in women’s rugby-15s varied from 3.6 (95% CI 2.5–5.3) per 1000 playing-h (including training and games) to 37.5 (95% CI 26.5–48.5) per 1000 match-h. Women’s rugby-7s had a pooled injury incidence of 62.5 (95% CI 54.7–70.4) per 1000 player-h and the injury incidence varied from 46.3 (95% CI 38.7–55.4) per 1000 match-h to 95.4 (95% CI 79.9–113.9) per 1000 match-h. The tackle was the most commonly reported injury cause with the ball carrier recording more injuries at the collegiate [5.5 (95% CI 4.5–6.8) vs. 3.5 (95% CI 2.7–4.6) per 1000 player-game-h; χ2(1) = 6.7; p = 0.0095], and Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC) [2006: 14.5 (95% CI 8.9–23.7) vs. 10.9 (95% CI 6.2–19.2) per 1000 match-h; χ2(1) = 0.6; p = 0.4497; 2010: 11.8 (95% CI 6.9–20.4) vs. 1.8 (95% CI 0.5–7.3) per 1000 match-h; χ2(1) = 8.1; p = 0.0045] levels of participation. Concussions and sprains/strains were the most commonly reported injuries at the collegiate level of participation.

Discussion

Women’s rugby-7s had a higher un-pooled injury incidence than women’s rugby-15s players based on rugby-specific surveys and hospitalisation data. The incidence of injury in women’s rugby-15s and rugby-7s was lower than men’s professional rugby-15s and rugby-7s competitions but similar to male youth rugby-15s players. Differences in reporting methodologies limited comparison of results.

Conclusion

Women’s rugby-7s resulted in a higher injury incidence than women’s rugby-15s. The head/face was the most commonly reported injury site. The tackle was the most common cause of injury in both rugby-7s and rugby-15s at all levels. Future studies are warranted on injuries in women’s rugby-15s and rugby-7s.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42018109054 (last updated on 17 January 2019).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

    Doug King, Andrew Foskett & Matt Barnes

  2. Sport Performance Research Institute New Zealand (SPRINZ), Faculty of Health and Environment Science, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    Doug King & Patria Hume

  3. School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    Doug King & Cloe Cummins

  4. National Institute of Stroke and Applied Neuroscience (NISAN), Faculty of Health and Environment Science, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    Patria Hume

  5. Institute for Sport Physical Activity and Leisure, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

    Cloe Cummins

  6. National Rugby League, Sydney, Australia

    Cloe Cummins

  7. Department of Rehabilitation, Nutrition and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

    Alan Pearce

  8. Sports Performance, Faculty of Human Performance, Australian College of Physical Education, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW, Australia

    Trevor Clark

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Contributor statement: According to the definition given by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the authors listed above qualify for authorship based on making one or more of the substantial contributions to the intellectual content of: (1) conception and design (Doug King, Matt Barnes); and/or (2) acquisition of data (Doug King); and/or (3) analysis and interpretation of data (Doug King, Alan Pearce); and/or (4) participated in drafting of the manuscript (Doug King, Matt Barnes, Patria Hume, Cloe Cummins, Alan Pearce, Trevor Clark, Andrew Foskett); and/or (5) critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content (Doug King, Matt Barnes, Patria Hume, Cloe Cummins, Alan Pearce, Trevor Clark, Andrew Foskett).

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Correspondence to Doug King.

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Doug King, Patria Hume, Cloe Cummins, Alan Pearce, Trevor Clark, Andrew Foskett and Matt Barnes declare that they have no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this review.

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Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

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King, D., Hume, P., Cummins, C. et al. Match and Training Injuries in Women’s Rugby Union: A Systematic Review of Published Studies. Sports Med 49, 1559–1574 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01151-4

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