Determining the incidence, risk factors and predictors of injury among male FNB Varsity Cup rugby players in South Africa

Abstract

The physical nature of the sport of rugby allows for a high incidence of injury, even in university rugby, compared to other contact sporting codes. Rugby Union lacks injury data focusing on university student-athletes, more specifically in South Africa. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the incidence and risk factors of injury, and to predict the risk of injury based on playing position among male rugby players participating in the FNB Varsity Cup Young Guns tournament. The study used a quantitative, cross-sectional and correlational research design. From a population of approximately 360 male rugby players who participated annually in the Young Guns tournament in SA, a study sample of 252 participants were conveniently recruited to participate in this study. An adapted version of the standardised and validated Rugby Union injury questionnaire was used to capture the rugby injury data, such as the location, type, nature, and severity of injury. The injury data collected was captured onto a Microsoft Office Excel 2016 spreadsheet and analysed using SPSS version 28. Descriptive statistical analysis (percentages, means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis H-test, Pearson’s Chi-square test, and multinomial regression analysis) were used to analyse the data. The statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. The total number of injuries sustained was 107 for the entire tournament, which translates into an incidence of injury of 9.5 injuries per 1000 hours of player exposure or 136.5 injuries per 1000 playing-hours and 0.6 injuries per 1000 training-hours. The incidence of match injury for the backs (150.6 injuries/1000 match-hours) was greater than that for the forwards (124.1 injuries/1000 match-hours). The shoulder (24 injuries, 23.8%, 95% CI: 14.9% to 30.5%) accounted for the anatomical location that sustained the most injuries, while ligament injury (36 injuries, 35.6%, 95% CI: 25.3% to 45.9%) was the most common type of injury sustained. Most of the injuries sustained were moderate (30 injuries, 29.7%, 95% CI: 22.8% to 36.0%) in severity. Contact events (91.1%, 95% CI: 86.1% to 96.4%) caused the most injuries due to tackling (28.7%) and collision (13.9%) during match-play. The number 8 (11.9%), inside centre (11.9%) and fullback (9.9%) were the positions that sustained the highest rate of injury amongst the starting fifteen players. The majority of injuries sustained by the Young Guns players was in the second half of match-play (47.5%, 95% CI: 39.6% to 58.4%), while the third-quarter of match-play was responsible for the highest incidence of injury (26.7%, 95% CI: 17.8% to 36.6%).