Considering Occupational Safety Awareness in Elite Rugby: A Game of Near-Misses

Rugby players often experience risk exposure that has potentially very serious long-term health implications. Safety and risk awareness in rugby has thus become crucial especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to advance understanding of safety awareness within elite rugby by exploring relationships between players, their behaviors, and the role stakeholders play in support and management. This study explored safety awareness in the context of elite rugby by utilizing document analysis, and an ethnographic approach incorporating observation, and semi-structured interviews. Participants were from rugby teams in Ireland. Observations occurred between August 2017 and May 2018, focusing on training sessions and competitive games. Data gathered were analyzed by thematic analysis using software NVivo. The findings identified three key themes: first, the risk to rugby players long-term health consequences tended to be underestimated; second, risk may be aggregated by players’ risk-taking behavior as a result of social exposure from stakeholders; third, safety practices in rugby, such as injury reporting, need to become more proactive rather than reactive. The dilemma that rugby players who prioritize their performance have to compromise their health-and-wellbeing can be ameliorated by safety culture cultivation, initiating with an encouragement of open communication on safety concerns

Star Excursion Balance Test performance and application in elite junior rugby union players

Objectives: To evaluate performance on selected reach directions of the Start Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) in an elite underage rugby union population, and determine if differences exist between the forward and back position units. This information may have implications for the application of this test in player injury prevention and management. Design: Descriptive study. Setting: Gymnasium at an elite junior rugby union screening camp. Participants: 102 healthy male elite rugby union players (age = 17.9 ± 1.1 years, height = 1.83 ± 0.07 m, body mass = 90.5 ± 11.3 kg). Main outcome measures: Participants were assessed on the Anterior (A), Posterior-medial (PM), and Posterior-lateral (PL) reach directions of the SEBT. Results: Normative data for SEBT performance in the A, PM and PL reach directions were established for an elite junior rugby union population. No significant differences in dynamic postural stability were observed between the forward and back position units. Conclusions: This study provides normative SEBT data on an elite junior rugby union population, which enables clinicians to compare player dynamic postural stability and has implications for use in the prevention and management of player injuries.Science Foundation Irelan

A comparison between performance on selected directions of the star excursion balance test and the Y balance test

Context: The Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) is a widely accepted method of assessing dynamic postural stability. The Y Balance Test (YBT) is a commercially available device for measuring balance that uses 3 (anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral) of the 8 SEBT directions and has been advocated as a method for assessing dynamic balance. To date, no studies have compared reach performance in these tests in a healthy population. Objective: To determine whether any differences exist between reach distance performance for the anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral directions of the SEBT and the YBT. Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Setting: University motion analysis laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 20 healthy active male participants (age = 22.50 ± 3.05 years, height = 1.78 ± 0.82 m, weight = 79.48 ± 11.32 kg, body mass index = 24.96 ± 2.56 kg/m2). Intervention(s): Participants carried out 3 trials in each reach direction on each leg on the SEBT and the YBT a minimum of 1 week apart. Main Outcome Measure(s): The means of the 3 trials in each direction on each leg on both tests were calculated. Data were collected after 4 practice trials in each direction. Paired t tests and Bland-Altman plots were used to compare reach distances between the SEBT and the YBT. Results: Participants reached farther in the anterior direction on the SEBT than on the YBT. No differences were observed in the posteromedial and posterolateral directions. Conclusions: Differing postural-control strategies may be used to complete these tasks. This finding has implications for the implementation and interpretation of these dynamic balance tests

A comparison of the movement patterns of specific rugby union movements on both natural turf and artificial turf

2nd International Congress on Sport Sciences Research and Technology Support (IcSPORTS 2014), Rome, Italy, 24-26 October 2014A limitation of sports kinematic studies is that they cannot fully represent in-situ play conditions for fast dynamic sports. This paper describes the use of new inertial sensor measurement technology (ODonovan et al., 2009) to analyse player motions in the field under game-like conditions in order to quantify the impact of different playing surfaces on movement patterns. The wireless sensor system used in this study (Shimmer 3, Shimmer Research, Ireland) is a lightweight (50x25x12.5mm3), wearable, low-power consumption inertial measurement unit that contains a tri-axial accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer. Sensor data can be used to derive a range of spatiotemporal and kinematic variables to quantify performance during gait and other functional activities. In our research we are using these sensors as a means to characterise movement during a running activity. The motivation for this study has been to compare movement profiles and strategies of rugby players performing game related tasks on natural turf surfaces and on synthetic surfaces, to enable a better understanding of the impact of different playing surfaces on movement and associated forces and stresses exerted on the body. This is important as there is a growing trend towards use of synthetic surfaces in rugby union and there have been anecdotal reports of injuries that are perceived to be related to the playing surface. In this paper we present preliminary movement data acquired from players performing a 10m sprint test on natural and synthetic surfaces and describe our methods of data extraction and subsequent data processing.International Rugby BoardIrish Rugby Football UnionScience in Spor

Inter-examiner reliability of the Doha agreement meeting classification system of groin pain in male athletes

The Doha agreement classification is used to classify groin pain in athletes. We evaluated the inter-examiner reliability of this classification system. We prospectively recruited 48 male athletes (66 symptomatic sides) with groin pain between 10–2017 and 03–2020 at a sports medicine hospital in Qatar. Two examiners (23 and 10 years of clinical experience) performed history taking, and a standardized clinical examination blinded to each other's findings. Examiners classified groin pain using the Doha agreement terminology (adductor-, inguinal-, iliopsoas-, pubic-, hip-related groin pain, or other causes of groin pain). Multiple entities were ranked in order of perceived clinical importance. Each side was classified separately for bilateral groin pain. Inter-examiner reliability was calculated using Cohen's Kappa statistic (κ). Inter-examiner reliability was slight to moderate for adductor- (κ = 0.40), inguinal- (κ = 0.44), iliopsoas- (κ = 0.57), and pubic-related groin pain (κ = 0.12), substantial for hip-related groin pain (κ = 0.62), and slight for “other causes of groin pain” (κ = 0.13). Ranking entities in order of perceived clinical importance improved inter-examiner reliability for adductor-, inguinal-, and iliopsoas-related groin pain (κ = 0.52–0.65), but not for pubic (κ = 0.12), hip (κ = 0.51), and “other causes of groin pain” (κ = 0.03). For participants with unilateral groin pain classified with a single entity (n = 7), there was 100% agreement between the two examiners. Inter-examiner reliability of the Doha agreement meeting classification system varied from slight to substantial, depending on the clinical entity. Agreement between examiners was perfect when athletes were classified with a single clinical entity of groin pain, but lower when athletes were classified with multiple clinical entities

Inter-examiner reliability of the Doha agreement meeting classification system of groin pain in male athletes

The Doha agreement classification is used to classify groin pain in athletes. We evaluated the inter-examiner reliability of this classification system. We prospectively recruited 48 male athletes (66 symptomatic sides) with groin pain between 10–2017 and 03–2020 at a sports medicine hospital in Qatar. Two examiners (23 and 10 years of clinical experience) performed history taking, and a standardized clinical examination blinded to each other's findings. Examiners classified groin pain using the Doha agreement terminology (adductor-, inguinal-, iliopsoas-, pubic-, hip-related groin pain, or other causes of groin pain). Multiple entities were ranked in order of perceived clinical importance. Each side was classified separately for bilateral groin pain. Inter-examiner reliability was calculated using Cohen's Kappa statistic (κ). Inter-examiner reliability was slight to moderate for adductor- (κ = 0.40), inguinal- (κ = 0.44), iliopsoas- (κ = 0.57), and pubic-related groin pain (κ = 0.12), substantial for hip-related groin pain (κ = 0.62), and slight for “other causes of groin pain” (κ = 0.13). Ranking entities in order of perceived clinical importance improved inter-examiner reliability for adductor-, inguinal-, and iliopsoas-related groin pain (κ = 0.52–0.65), but not for pubic (κ = 0.12), hip (κ = 0.51), and “other causes of groin pain” (κ = 0.03). For participants with unilateral groin pain classified with a single entity (n = 7), there was 100% agreement between the two examiners. Inter-examiner reliability of the Doha agreement meeting classification system varied from slight to substantial, depending on the clinical entity. Agreement between examiners was perfect when athletes were classified with a single clinical entity of groin pain, but lower when athletes were classified with multiple clinical entities