Bussey Melanie D, Salmon Danielle, Nanai Bridie, Romanchuk Janelle, Gomez Raul M, Tong Darryl, Sole Gisela, Tucker Ross, Falvey Éanna
School of Physical Education, Sports and Exercise Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
International Rugby Players Association, Clonskeagh, Ireland.
Sports Med. 2025 Sep 17. doi: 10.1007/s40279-025-02314-2.
Rugby Union has attracted increased scrutiny because of concerns over head acceleration events (HAEs), particularly regarding their frequency, severity and potential long-term health implications. While substantial efforts by governing bodies have focused on reducing head impact risks through education, regulatory changes and the introduction of instrumented mouthguards, limited data exist for the community rugby context, especially across different age grades and playing positions.
We aimed to quantify HAE across playing positions, age grades and contact phases in community rugby and to identify match scenarios associated with high-magnitude head loading.
A prospective observational cohort study included 259 male players across U13, U15, U19, and Premier senior men's grades. Players were fitted with instrumented mouthguards, and match play was video recorded for verification. Head acceleration events were identified from instrumented mouthguard-triggered sensor acceleration events > 5 g and coded for match context, player position and contact event characteristics. Statistical models evaluated differences in HAE frequency, incidence rates and head kinematics (peak linear acceleration, peak angular acceleration, rotational velocity change index) across grades, positions and contact scenarios.
A total of 7358 HAEs were verified from 8593 sensor acceleration events across 72 matches. Tackles and rucks accounted for ~ 60% of all HAEs. High tackles significantly increased head loading in ball carriers (peak linear acceleration: + 4.16 g, p = 0.02; peak angular acceleration: + 443 rad/s, p = 0.002; rotational velocity change index: + 1.87 rad/s, p = 0.04), while low tackles elevated head loading in tacklers (peak linear acceleration: + 4.9 g, p = 0.004). Upright tacklers were more likely to produce high tackles (p < 0.001) and head-to-head contacts (p = 0.019). U13 ball carriers showed higher rotational loading than tacklers (rotational velocity change index: + 5.01 rad/s, p = 0.008), likely reflecting frequent secondary mechanisms such as head-to-ground and body-to-ground. Defensive rucks carried a greater HAE risk than attacking rucks (all p < 0.05), particularly for U19 jacklers (incidence rate ratio = 2.27, p < 0.0001).
Tackles and rucks are primary sources of HAEs, with risk shaped by posture, tackle height and player role. Lower tackle heights reduce ball carrier load but increase tackler exposure, indicating a potential safety trade-off. Younger players, particularly U13s, were more susceptible to secondary impacts (e.g. head-to-ground), potentially because of limited task-specific experience and underdeveloped control during the tackled phase. Position- and age-specific strategies may be required to optimise safety and reduce HAE risk across all levels of community rugby.
由于对头部加速事件（HAEs）的担忧，尤其是其发生频率、严重程度及潜在的长期健康影响，英式橄榄球联盟受到了越来越多的审视。尽管管理机构已做出大量努力，通过教育、规则变更以及引入装有传感器的护齿来降低头部撞击风险，但针对社区橄榄球环境的数据有限，特别是在不同年龄组和比赛位置方面。
我们旨在量化社区橄榄球中不同比赛位置、年龄组和接触阶段的HAEs，并确定与高幅度头部负荷相关的比赛场景。
一项前瞻性观察队列研究纳入了259名来自U13、U15、U19和成年甲组男子的男性球员。为球员佩戴装有传感器的护齿，并对比赛进行视频录制以作验证。通过装有传感器的护齿触发的传感器加速事件大于5g来识别头部加速事件，并根据比赛背景、球员位置和接触事件特征进行编码。统计模型评估了不同年龄组、位置和接触场景下HAEs频率、发生率和头部运动学（峰值线性加速度、峰值角加速度、旋转速度变化指数）的差异。
在72场比赛的8593次传感器加速事件中，共验证了7358次HAEs。擒抱和ruck（橄榄球比赛中的一种争球方式）占所有HAEs的约60%。高位擒抱显著增加了持球者的头部负荷（峰值线性加速度：+4.16g，p = 0.02；峰值角加速度：+443rad/s，p = 0.002；旋转速度变化指数：+1.87rad/s，p = 0.04），而低位擒抱则增加了擒抱者的头部负荷（峰值线性加速度：+4.9g，p = 0.004）。直立的擒抱者更有可能进行高位擒抱（p < 0.001）和头部对头部接触（p = 0.019）。U13的持球者比擒抱者表现出更高的旋转负荷（旋转速度变化指数：+5.01rad/s，p = 0.008），这可能反映了诸如头部着地和身体着地等频繁的二次机制。防守性ruck比进攻性ruck带来更大的HAE风险（所有p < 0.05），尤其是对于U19的争抢球者（发生率比值 = 2.27，p < 0.0001）。
擒抱和ruck是HAEs的主要来源，风险受姿势、擒抱高度和球员角色影响。较低的擒抱高度可减少持球者的负荷，但增加了擒抱者的暴露风险，这表明存在潜在的安全权衡。年轻球员，尤其是U13球员，更容易受到二次撞击（如头部着地）的影响，这可能是由于特定任务经验有限以及在被擒抱阶段控制能力未充分发展所致。可能需要针对位置和年龄的特定策略来优化安全性并降低社区橄榄球各级别的HAE风险。
