| Title: |
Contact-events and associated head acceleration events in semi-elite women’s rugby union: A competition-wide instrumented mouthguard study |
| Authors: |
Roe, G; Sawczuk, T; Starling, L; Gilthorpe, MS; Salmon, D; Falvey, É; Hendricks, S; Rasmussen, K; Stokes, K; Tooby, J; Owen, C; Tucker, R; Jones, B |
| Publisher Information: |
Informa UK Limited |
| Publication Year: |
2025 |
| Collection: |
Leeds Beckett University Repository |
| Description: |
This study aimed to quantify contact-events and associated head acceleration event (HAE) probabilities in semi-elite women's rugby union. Instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) were worn by players competing in the 2023 Farah Palmer Cup season (13 teams, 217 players) during 441 player-matches. Maximum peak linear acceleration (PLA) and peak angular acceleration (PAA) per-event were used as estimates of in vivo HAE (HAEmax), linked to video analysis-derived contact-events and analysed using mixed-effects regression. Back-rows had the highest number of contact-events per full-match (44.1 [41.2 to 47.1]). No differences were apparent between front-five and centres, or between half-backs and outside-backs. The probability of higher HAEmax occurring was greatest in ball-carries, followed by tackles, defensive rucks and attacking rucks. Probability profiles were similar between positions but the difference in contact-events for each position influenced HAEmax exposure. Overall, most HAEmax were relatively low. For example, the probability of a back-row experiencing a PLA HAEmax ≥25g was 0.045 (0.037-0.054) for ball carries (1 in every 22 carries), translating to 1 in every 2.3 full games. This study presents the first in-depth analysis of contact-events and associated HAEmax in semi-elite women's rugby union. The HAEmax profiles during contact-events can help inform both policy and research into injury mitigation strategies. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
text |
| Language: |
English |
| ISSN: |
0264-0414 |
| Relation: |
https://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/id/eprint/11976/1/ContacteventsAndAssociatedHeadAccelerationEventsInSemieliteWomensRugbyUnionACompetitionwideInstrumentedMouthguardStudyPV-ROE.pdf; Roe, G and Sawczuk, T and Starling, L and Gilthorpe, MS and Salmon, D and Falvey, É and Hendricks, S and Rasmussen, K and Stokes, K and Tooby, J and Owen, C and Tucker, R and Jones, B (2025) Contact-events and associated head acceleration events in semi-elite women’s rugby union: A competition-wide instrumented mouthguard study. Journal of Sports Sciences. pp. 1-10. ISSN 0264-0414 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2025.2481355 |
| DOI: |
10.1080/02640414.2025.2481355 |
| Availability: |
https://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/id/eprint/11976/; https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2025.2481355 |
| Rights: |
cc_by_nc_nd_4 |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.CF6E56E2 |
| Database: |
BASE |