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. 1978 Dec 23;2(6154):1759–1761. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6154.1759

Injuries in Rugby Union football.

J E Davies, T Gibson
PMCID: PMC1609993  PMID: 737483

Abstract

In a prospective study of 185 players attached to 10 British rugby clubs, 151 injuries were recorded among 98 of them (53%) during a single season. Forwards sustained significantly more injuries than backs. The standard of rugby, players' body weights, degree of fitness, and presence of joint hypermobility did not affect the risk of injury. The leg was the most common site of injury. Head and neck injuries were significantly more common when play was static and on wet pitches. Scrummaging accounted for no neck injuries. Almost half the injuries occurred during the last quarter of games. Foul play might have caused as many as 47 (31%) of all reported injuries. Complete eradication of deliberately dangerous play would considerably reduce the high incidence of injuries in this sport.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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