Table 2.
Characteristics of collision frequency detected by microtechnology in rugby union and rugby sevens
| Study: author (year) | Number of matches/training sessions | Type of collisions | Frequency definition | Frequency of collisions: mean ± SD | Relative frequency of collisions: mean ± SD (no. per min) | Load (AU) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rugby union | |||||||||
| Bradley et al. (2015) [32] | Training sessions | Contact number | Weekly | Forwards: 80 ± 25 | NR | NR | |||
| Backs: 50 ± 22 | |||||||||
| Coughlan et al. (2011) [39] | 1 match | Collisions | Number | Total: 1411 | NR | NR | |||
| Forwards: 838 | |||||||||
| Backs: 573 | |||||||||
| Tackles | Total | Forwards: 10 | |||||||
| Backs: 12 | |||||||||
| Average Body Load tackle against | Forwards: 8.4 G | ||||||||
| Backs: 7.8 G | |||||||||
| Cunniffe et al. (2009) [20] | 1 match | Impacts | Total | Forwards: 798 | NR | NR | |||
| Backs: 1274 | |||||||||
| Jones et al. (2014) [52] | 4 matches | Forwards: | Backs: | NR | NR | ||||
| Tackles | Per match | 5 ± 3 | 4 ± 3 | ||||||
| Contacts hit | Per match | 15 ± 6 | 6 ± 4 | ||||||
| Impacts | Total | 25 ± 9 | 15 ± 7 | ||||||
| Scrum | Per match | 13 ± 5 | 0 | ||||||
| Contacts | Total | 31 ± 14 | 16 ± 7 | ||||||
| Jones et al. (2015) [53] | 71 matches | Contacts | Per match | First half: 12.3 ± 9.5 | NR | NR | |||
| Second half: 12.6 ± 9.8 | |||||||||
| 0–10 min | 2.9 ± 2.5 | ||||||||
| 10–20 min | 3.1 ± 3 | ||||||||
| 20–30 min | 4.1 ± 4.6 | ||||||||
| 30–40 min | 3.7 ± 5 | ||||||||
| 40–50 min | 4 ± 3.8 | ||||||||
| 50–60 min | 2.5 ± 2.2 | ||||||||
| 60–70 min | 2.3 ± 2.1 | ||||||||
| 70–80 min | 2.5 ± 2.4 | ||||||||
| MacLeod et al. (2018) [25] | 11 matches | Collisions | Number per game | Forwards: | Backs: | Forwards: | Backs: | ||
| Prop: 31 ± 6 | Half back: 16 ± 5 | Prop: 0.4 ± 0.1 | Half back: 0.2 ± 0.1 | ||||||
| Hooker: 33 ± 5 | Centre: 23 ± 5.4 | Hooker: 0.38 ± 0.1 | Centre: 0.3 ± 0.1 | ||||||
| Second row: 35 ± 7 | Back three: 21 ± 5.8 | Second row: 0.4 ± 0.1 | Back three: 0.2 ± 0.1 | ||||||
| Back row: 35 ± 10 | Back row: 0.4 ± 0.2 | ||||||||
| Load per collision | Forwards: | Backs: | |||||||
| Prop: 7.9 ± 1.4 | Half back: 7.6 ± 1.4 | ||||||||
| Hooker: 7.7 ± 1.4 | Centre: 8.0 ± 1.4 | ||||||||
| Second row: 7.3 ± 1.4 | Back three: 8.3 ± 1.6 | ||||||||
| Back row: 7.6 ± 1.6 | |||||||||
| McLaren et al. (2015) [58] | 15 matches | Impacts | Total | Total: 50 ± 289 | Total: 0.7 ± 0.4 | NR | |||
| Forwards: 78 ± 18 | Forwards: 1 ± 0.3 | ||||||||
| Backs: 28 ± 12 | Backs: 1.1 ± 0.2 | ||||||||
| Reardon et al. (2017) [24] | 13 matches | Collisions | Total | Prop: 34 ± 11 | NR | NR | |||
| Hooker: 33 ± 9 | |||||||||
| Second row: 35 ± 11 | |||||||||
| Back row: 44 ± 10 | |||||||||
| Scrum half: 11 ± 6 | |||||||||
| Out-half: 21 ± 7 | |||||||||
| Centre: 20 ± 5 | |||||||||
| Wing: 20 ± 5 | |||||||||
| Full back: 21 ± 6 | |||||||||
| Takeda et al. (2014) [80] | Training and simulated match | Tackles | Total number | 37.6 ± 3 | NR | NR | |||
| Contacts | 10.4 ± 2.5 | ||||||||
| Tierney et al. (2020) [23] | Match play | Collisions | Collisions per player per game | 11 | NR | NR | |||
| Tierney et al. (2021) [84] | Match play | Collision count | 0.4 ± 0.1 | NR | NR | ||||
| Collision load | 2.8 ± 1.1 | ||||||||
| Venter et al. (2011) [91] | 5 matches | Impacts | Total | Back row forwards: 683.4 ± 295 | NR | NR | |||
| Outside backs: 474.3 ± 81.9 | |||||||||
| Rugby sevens | |||||||||
| Clarke et al. (2015) [36] | 3–6 matches | Impacts | Total | National: 7300 ± 2200 | NR | NR | |||
| State: 5200 ± 2400 | |||||||||
| Clarke et al. (2016) [37] | 2 matches | Collisions | NR | Men: 35 | NR | NR | |||
| Women: 20 | |||||||||
| Gibson et al. (2015) [47] | 3 weeks training | Tackles | Count | Week 1: 22.8 ± 10.6 | NR | NR | |||
| Week 2: 14.6 ± 9.1 | |||||||||
| Week 3: 15.8 ± 5.7 | |||||||||
| Portillo et al. (2016) [62] | 5 matches | Tackle | Number/min | NR | Tackle: 0.3 ± 0.1 | NR | |||
| Ruck | Ruck: 0.3 ± 0.1 | ||||||||
| Ball Carry | Ball Carry: 0.2 ± 0.1 | ||||||||
| Suarez-Arrones et al. (2014) [78] | 23 matches | Tackle | Whole match | Forwards: 7.4 ± 1.8 | NR | NR | |||
| First half: 3.3 ± 1.3 | |||||||||
| Second half: 4.1 ± 1.8 | |||||||||
| Whole match | Backs: 4.1 ± 2.4 | ||||||||
| First half: 2.3 ± 1.8 | |||||||||
| Second half: 1.9 ± 1.4 | |||||||||
| Ruck | Whole match | Forwards: 1 ± 1.1 | |||||||
| First half: 0.4 ± 0.5 | |||||||||
| Second half: 0.6 ± 0.8 | |||||||||
| Whole match | Backs: 0.6 ± 0.9 | ||||||||
| First half: 0.3 ± 0.5 | |||||||||
| Second half: 0.4 ± 0.5 | |||||||||
| Scrums | Forwards: | ||||||||
| First half: 2.9 ± 0.7 | |||||||||
| Second half: 1 ± 0.8 | |||||||||
NR not reported