Women rugby union players experience countless injuries but these only tend to be taken seriously when they impede a player’s ability to perform, a new Irish study has found.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) focused on tackle-related injuries, which currently account for almost 70% of all match injuries in women’s rugby union matches.

The tackle is a highly complex skill that is central to safe participation and success in rugby. It requires technical, tactical, physical and psychological proficiency and capacity to execute safely and effectively.

World Rugby has committed to funding evidence-informed injury prevention programmes, but research in women’s rugby is still playing catch-up. According to the TCD researchers, it can be assumed that tackle coaching frameworks and player protection strategies are likely informed by research in men's rugby.

A deeper understanding of the performance context is essential for the success of player protection strategies, so the researchers undertook qualitative interviews with female rugby players to learn more about their experiences of tackle skill learning and tackle injuries. 

The study involved in depth interviews with women players in Europe, South Africa and Canada, looking at their experiences of rugby tackling, preparation and injury. 

It found that when it came to tackling, players had a sense of fear and a lack of confidence around this, however they also felt that tackle injuries were an inevitable part of the game.

Players identified how their status as women and late starters in rugby increased their susceptibility to injury. Furthermore, tackle coaching paid little attention to the training age, development and learning needs of players.

The researchers did note that some coaches empower players and instill effective tackle techniques and healthier tackle injury behaviours. These coaches were happy to take extra time and tailor drills to the training age and learning needs of the individuals. They also sought player feedback to inform training and placed a higher value on player wellbeing over performance.

However overall, unhealthy tackle injury beliefs and behaviours were accepted and encouraged by teammates and coaches and shaped by a rugby culture that rewards being brave and “putting your body on the line”.

All of these experiences overlapped with inequalities in club structures where women’s rugby teams counted themselves lucky to have access to the gym, pitches, coaching and pitch-side medical support.

Meanwhile, day-to-day experiences of gender stereotypes, homophobia and stigma from wider society further positioned women as interlopers in the sport.

The researchers said that in order to better protect women rugby players, the women’s game needs nuanced strategies that involve:

-Collaboration and collective action between players, coaches, governing bodies, media and match officials that reflects the complexity of the skill of tackling and the performance context of women's rugby

-Organisations to address the implicit gender bias that exists in rugby by giving women ‘a seat at the table’ to create inclusive, equitable and safer playing environments for women's rugby players. 

According to PhD student and Irish rugby international player, Kathryn Dane, who led the research, this study has “provided unique insights into the complexity of tackle skill learning and tackle injury”.

“By adopting a nuanced approach that accounts for the performance context and preferences of women’s rugby players, we will be better placed to protect player health in rugby,” she commented.

The study is published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine and can be viewed here.