The Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance Project
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IRIS The Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance Project All-Ireland League Amateur Club Rugby 2018-2019 Season Report IRIS Authored by the Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance (IRIS) Project Steering Group IRFU: Dr. Rod McLoughlin (Medical Director, IRFU) Ms. Mairéad Liston (Medical Department Co-ordinator, IRFU) Principal Investigators: Dr. Tom Comyns (Strength and Conditioning, University of Limerick) Dr. Ian Kenny (Biomechanics, University of Limerick) Supporting Investigators: Dr. Róisín Cahalan (Doctoral Supervisor, Physiotherapy, University of Limerick) Dr. Mark Campbell (Doctoral Supervisor, Sport Psychology, University of Limerick) Prof. Liam Glynn (Graduate Entry Medicine, University of Limerick) Mr. Alan Griffin (Doctoral Researcher, Sport Sciences, University of Limerick) Prof. Drew Harrison (Biomechanics, University of Limerick) Ms. Therese Leahy (Doctoral Researcher, Physiotherapy, University of Limerick) Dr. Mark Lyons (Doctoral Supervisor, Strength and Conditioning, University of Limerick) Dr. Helen Purtill (Mathematics and Statistics, University of Limerick) Dr. Giles Warrington (Sport and Exercise Physiology, University of Limerick) Ms. Caithríona Yeomans (Doctoral Researcher, Physiotherapy, University of Limerick)* The authors would like to acknowledge with considerable gratitude, the work of the doctors, physiotherapists and club staff involved with the IRIS clubs who have recorded injury information throughout the project. *Report Primary Author (ii) Contents The IRIS team (ii) 4.4 Nature of Training Injuries 28 4.5 Training Injury Event 29 Contents (iii) 4.6 Training Injury Severity 30 4.7 Training Injury Burden (number of injuries x time lost per injury) 31 Irish Rugby Football Union Foreword (v) 4.8 Medical Attention Training Injuries (slight injuries) 32 Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance Foreword (vi) Section 5: Future Directions of the IRIS Project 33 Section 1: Executive Summary of 2018-2019 season 1 Section 6: Publications and Conferences 35 1.1 Match Injuries 1 6.1 Journal Publications 35 1.2 Training Injuries 1 6.2 Conference Communications 36 1.3 Most Frequent Injuries 1 1.4 Injury Event 2 Section 7: References 39 1.5 Playing Position 2 1.6 Injury Burden 2 Section 2: Introduction 3 2.1 The IRIS Project 3 2.2 Injury Definitions 4 2.3 Recruitment 5 Section 3: Match Injury 7 3.1 Overall Time-loss Match Injuries 7 3.2 Match Injury Classification 8 3.3 Timing of Match Injury 11 3.4 Match Injury Event 13 3.5 Nature of Match Injury 14 3.6 Body Location of Match Injury 15 3.7 Playing Position of Match Injury 17 3.8 Match Injury Severity 19 3.9 Match Injury Burden (number of injuries x time lost per injury) 20 3.10 Medical Attention Match Injuries (slight injuries) 21 3.11 Other Match-related Injuries 22 Section 4: Training Injury 23 4.1 Overall Time-loss Training Injuries 23 4.2 Training Injury Classification 24 4.3 Body Location of Training Injuries 26 (iii) (iv) Irish Rugby Football Union Foreword Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance Foreword The IRFU welcomes the second Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance report which has been compiled by the University The Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance (IRIS) project involves research stemming from ongoing sports performance, of Limerick. This report provides data from a significantly greater number of teams. The report compares injury prevention and psychological preparation work by University of Limerick academics across a range 2018/19 season results with those from the 2017/18 season enabling us to begin to see trends. The data are of sports, as well as our specific expertise in Rugby Union. It has effectively brought together academics vital to enable the IRFU to assess trends and to guide in the prevention and management of injuries. with expert practitioner experience from the fields of biomechanics, medicine, mathematics and statistics, physiotherapy, physiology, sport psychology, and strength & conditioning as well as three doctoral researchers. I wish to thank all the clubs, data collectors and researchers for all the work that has been necessary to This holistic approach to injury surveillance and prevention is central to the project. produce this second report. The IRFU is committed to ongoing longitudinal research to further enhance our understanding of the incidence, nature and severity of injuries in the adult game. Comprehensive injury surveillance systems in amateur Rugby Union are rare and this innovative project to date has involved the research, design and implementation of an online injury recording platform. Collection has now been completed of a second season’s data and this 2018/19 season report documents our collaborative work Dr. Rod McLoughlin with the IRFU, and with 32 male and female All-Ireland League Clubs. It represents 644 matches, over 1150 players, and support from dedicated data injury recorders, coaches, doctors, physiotherapists, managers and ancillary staff within clubs: thank you. The IRIS project included the addition of schools surveillance for Senior Cup (reported separately), and in the future IRIS will also report on the incidence, nature and severity of injuries in School Junior Cup, and underage amateur Rugby. IRIS Principal Investigators Dr. Tom Comyns, PhD Dr. Ian Kenny, PhD (v) (vi) 1.0 Executive Summary 1.1 Match Injuries 1.4 Injury Event Starting in September 2018, the Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance (IRIS) project collected one full season of injury The tackle event accounted for the majority of match and training injuries, with 59% of all injuries happening data across 644 matches from 32 men’s and women’s amateur Rugby clubs. during the tackle. The tackler was at a slightly increased risk of injury with 52% of the tackle-related injuries due to tackling as opposed to being tackled (48%). Men’s AIL However, during the 2017-2018 season, the ball carrier (being tackled) was at a slightly increased risk with • There were 25 men’s clubs involved in the IRIS Project (10 Division One, 15 Division Two clubs). 54% of the tackle-related injuries. • There was a total of 959 male players registered in the IRIS Project (410 Division One, 549 Division Two players). • The overall match time-loss injury incidence rate for males was 47.2/1,000 player hours. • This is slightly lower than the overall match time-loss injury incidence rate for males during the 1.5 Playing Position 2017-2018 season (49.7/1,000 player hours). • The match time-loss injury incidence rate for Division One males was 42.8/1,000 player hours. Of all match injuries recorded in the men’s clubs, 61% were to the forwards (position no. 1-8), while 39% were • The match time-loss injury incidence rate for Division Two males was 50.3/1,000 player hours. to the backs (position no. 9-15). The hookers (no. 2) had the highest proportion of injuries with 11% of all • A single male player would have to play 15 matches to sustain one injury. injuries. In comparison, the openside flankers (no.7) had the highest proportion of match injuries during the 2017-2018 season (11%). Women’s AIL • There were 7 women’s clubs involved in the IRIS project (5 Women’s AIL, 2 Women’s league). Of all match injuries recorded in the women’s clubs, 60% were to the forwards (position no. 1-8), while 40% • There was a total of 195 female players registered in the IRIS Project. were to the backs (position no. 9-15). The second rows (no. 4) had the highest proportion of match injuries • The overall match time-loss injury incidence rate for females was 27.7/1,000 player hours. with 16% of all injuries. In comparison, the inside centres (no.12) had the highest proportion of match injuries • This is lower than the overall match time-loss injury incidence rate for females during the 2017 - during the 2017-2018 season (18%). 2018 season (46.2/1,000 player hours). • A single female player would have to play 27 matches to sustain one injury. 1.6 Injury Burden (number x time lost per injury) 1.2 Training Injuries The burden of an injury assesses the frequency of an injury in relation to the severity of the injury (measured as the number of days absent). There was a total of 121 training injuries reported in the men’s clubs. • This is higher than the total number of training injuries reported in the 2017-2018 season (85 Ankle ligament sprains carried the highest injury burden and accounted for 9% of all match injuries in the training injuries). men’s clubs. Ankle ligament sprains resulted in an average of 47 days absence from Rugby match or training • There was a total of 51 training injuries in Division One men’s clubs. activities. • There was a total of 70 training injuries in Division Two men’s clubs. Concussions carried the highest injury burden and accounted for 19% of all match in the women’s clubs. There was a total of 11 training injuries reported in the women’s clubs. Concussions resulted in an average of 30 days absence from Rugby match or training activities. • This is lower than the total number of training injuries reported in the 2017-2018 season (16 training injuries). 1.3 Injury Occurrence The most commonly reported match injuries for the men’s clubs were concussion (11%), followed by ankle ligament sprains (9%). Concussion injuries resulted in an average of 26 days absence from Rugby match or training activities, while ankle ligament sprains resulted in an average of 47 days absence. The most commonly reported match injuries for the women’s clubs were concussion (19%) and ankle ligament sprains (12%). Concussion injuries resulted in an average of 30 days absence from Rugby match or training activities, while ankle ligament sprains resulted in an average of 43 days absence. 1 2 2.0 Introduction 2.1 The IRIS Project 2.2 Injury Definitions The Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance (IRIS) project has developed and implemented the first long-term Rugby The IRIS project follows the guidelines from the World Rugby ‘Consensus statement on injury definitions and Union specific injury surveillance system within amateur Rugby Union in Ireland.