Department for Health

Player preparation for injury prevention

Related resources:

The sections below relate to areas which have been identified through CRISP data as to where injury prevention  strategies should focus. For example, our data has shown that:

  • Most injuries occur in the ankle, knee and shoulder
  • Hamstring strains account for most non-contact injuries.
  • Over half of all injuries occur in the tackle and therefore optimal technique may reduce the risk of injury.

Lower limb and shoulder injury prevention

Knee and ankle injuries combined account for 56% of all lower limb time-loss injuries, while the shoulder is the most common site for upper limb time-loss injuries. More information on these sites can be found on the RFU Injury Prevention web pages.

Preventing hamstring injuries

Hamstring strains account for 8% of all time-loss injuries. While some risk factors for sustaining this type of injury are currenlty unknown, there is evidence that Nordic hamstring exercises may be beneficial in preventing hamstring injuries (Brooks et al., 2006*). This exercise can be easily integrated into a training programme with minimal time and equipment requirements. More information on how to perform Nordic hamstring exercises can be found on the Nordic hamstring video.
 *Brooks, J.M., Fuller, C.W., Kemp, S.P.T. and Reddin, D.B. (2006). Incidence, Risk, and Prevention of Hamstring Muscle Injuries in Professional Rugby Union. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 34:1297-1306.

The tackle and injury prevention

The information from CRISP shows that both tackling and being tackled is a particular injury risk. It is therefore suggested that there should be a focus on the tackle in training. Although this would increase the overall player exposure to the tackle, it should be noted that a previous study (Brooks et al., 2005*) has found a significantly lower injury risk during training activities than during match play and therefore tackle training is unlikely to result in a significant increase in injuries.
 
There is a growing body of educational resources dedicated to coaching the tackle from the perspective of both the tackler and the ball carrier. More information about the tackle and safe technique in contact can be found on the Rugby Ready website.
 *Brooks, J.M., Fuller, C.W., Kemp, S.P.T. and Reddin, D.B. (2005). Epidemiology of injuries in English professional rugby union: part 2 training injuries. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 39:767-775.