rugby injuries in the professional era

handsomecake

*Edit: From; http://rugbydump.blogspot.com/ *

As the end of year Tests kick into gear, there isn't a team taking part that hasn't been affected by injury. While that has, and always will be a part of rugby, it seems that nowadays players are feeling the impact of professional rugby more than ever.

The IRB's Medical Strategic Plan forum began in London today. It's a two day conference that will have medical experts from each of rugby’s leading countries in attendance. They will discuss the increased rate of injuries and physicality in the game, and hope to make recommendations regarding player welfare.

They’re concerned that the demands on top players have become too great, referees aren’t enforcing the laws in certain aspects of play, and that players have quite simply become too big.

When looking at international sport, 220 out of 1000 hours are lost to injury in rugby. In American Football it’s 112 hours, Ice Hockey 80, Football, 40, and Cricket just 10 hours.

"We are reaching a level where the players have got too big for their skill levels," said Lions team doctor James Robson at the end of their tour of South Africa in July.

"Players have become a little too muscle-bound and bulky," he added.

Jonny Wilkinson's list of injuries over the years includes a fractured shoulder, knee ligaments, ankle ligaments, haematoma, groin injury, damaged kidney, torn thigh muscles and a dislocated knee. Mike Tindall has had a ruptured liver, punctured lung, ankle ligaments, shoulder surgery, torn stomach muscles, broken foot and broken leg.

Jean De Villiers has missed two world cups due to injury, and Gavin Henson seems to have thrown in the towel after a career spent on the physio bench.

Former England centre Damian Hopley, who himself had his career cut short because of a knee injury, is now chief executive of the Rugby Players’ Association. He’s concerned about the prolific rate of injuries to players these days and feels that amongst other things, the reduction of squads due to the economic crisis, has had an affect.

"I feel sorry for the players and also the directors of rugby who are now in a results-driven business,” he said. "They need results to save their jobs. It is a vicious circle. They have a very difficult task."

It’s clear that there are a number of factors involved in the high rate of injuries that are occurring at the moment. Too much rugby, bigger players, and refereeing inconsistencies seem to be the top three to blame.

The man who recently suspended Dan Carter for a week, Judge Jeff Blackett, says referees and citing officers are at fault for not taking sterner action when applying the laws.

"We are not applying the laws of the game or we are interpreting them too freely. If referees and citing officers applied the rules more rigidly, we may see a reduction of injuries at the breakdown.

"There is a balance between dynamism and safety, and I think it has gone too far in the wrong direction. In an effort to increase the attractiveness of the competition, we are in danger of damaging the game," he said.

uberwolf

twould be good form to acknowledge the original source.

I was very conscious of the pronouncements of the chief medical on the Lions tour, saying collisions were bigger and more jarring than ever before, and the consequences for player welfare

little173

There was some debate about this earlier this week. Shaun Edwards had made his views known that the excessive force in clearing out at the rucks when players are not prepared for the hit is playing a big part.

I think players will have to play fewer games no question, this is a big factor, and better rehab and conditioning but other than that, what can they do?, stop an 18 year old from spending 6 hours a day in a gym to compete physically?

Kalashnikov_Kid

little173 wrote: »

There was some debate about this earlier this week. Shaun Edwards had made his views known that the excessive force in clearing out at the rucks when players are not prepared for the hit is playing a big part.

I think players will have to play fewer games no question, this is a big factor, and better rehab and conditioning but other than that, what can they do?, stop an 18 year old from spending 6 hours a day in a gym to compete physically?

I think what is happening at ruck time should be looked in to - I think there is far too much variance in the interpretation of the ruck rules at the moment.

I also agree that the crowded club and international calendar has to be looked at - but I think this is being conveniently ignored and the red herring of citing commissions is being used as a major cause of rugby injuries - which is a bit OTT if you ask me.

Oh and the source is here - www.rugbydump.com, accompanied by a video.

toomevara

When posting articles it is essential that a source is provided. Its is also helpful to wrap quotes around the piece and provide some context with a brief intro.

magotch07

its very true, even when you think of the irish lads BOD is 5ft10" and 95 kg thats huge for is height, when he was playing in the grand slam last year he was nearly knock out in a tackle

anonymous_joe

magotch07 wrote: »

its very through, even when you think of the irish lads BOD is 5ft10" and 95 kg thats huge for is height, when he was playing in the grand slam last year he was nearly knock out in a tackle

I thought BOD was actually about 5'7"?

Given that I walked past him in a bookshop in town about a year ago and I towered over him. (Given that he weighs the same as me, and isn't a fat bástard that's pretty scary.)

magotch07

he would be class clinically obese by any bmi scale....the aint a pick of fat on him....as for the players you only have to look at the brits to see the players are to big

anonymous_joe

magotch07 wrote: »

he would be class clinically obese by any bmi scale....the aint a pick of fat on him....as for the players you only have to look at the brits to see the players are to big

*cough* Matt Banahan.

In fairness it's been going this way since Jonah Lomu.

handsomecake

look at clerc the winger from france.he tore his cruciate ligaments in his knee and spent his time off working on his upper body.

he is carved out of stone now.

anonymous_joe

handsomecake wrote: »

look at clerc the winger from france.he tore his cruciate ligaments in his knee and spent his time off working on his upper body.

he is carved out of stone now.

Which is good for him from a current perspective, but in theory a winger should just need to be fast and light and very agile. (Note, in theory. :pac:)

snowman87

i tore my cruciate ligament playing amature club rugby.
to me it seems to be happening a lot more these days. does anyone else agree or does anyone have an explaination as to why this is happening (the cruciate in particular) is it because of too much bulk??

as an aside, my surgeon wants to take the graft for my new cruciate from my hanstring but i heard this can lead to hamstring pulls and problems down the line, is this true and would it be better to get the graft from the patella tendon instead?

anonymous_joe

snowman87 wrote: »

i tore my cruciate ligament playing amature club rugby.
to me it seems to be happening a lot more these days. does anyone else agree or does anyone have an explaination as to why this is happening (the cruciate in particular) is it because of too much bulk??

as an aside, my surgeon wants to take the graft for my new cruciate from my hanstring but i heard this can lead to hamstring pulls and problems down the line, is this true and would it be better to get the graft from the patella tendon instead?

A few medical reports suggest that the huge number of ligament tears etc are indicative of people carrying muscle mass that's just a little bit beyond what those joints can take apparently. But I'm no doctor, nor would I offer any medical advice even if I was.

DirkVoodoo

My brother is playing Senior cup rugby and suffered a posterior dislocation of the sternoclavicular joint about 2 months ago. Apparently it is a more common injury in car crashes given the huge frontal impact required, but seeing the size of some of the younger guys coming up through school's football, this is hardly surprising.

A huge number of players from the senior panel in his school have also been sidelined with injuries, with shoulder dislocations becoming more common.

I saw sky sports addressed this a while ago, as there does seem to be a growing concern that the modern game is producing a generation of "gym rats" and is more about size and power over skill.

conno16

anonymous_joe wrote: »

A few medical reports suggest that the huge number of ligament tears etc are indicative of people carrying muscle mass that's just a little bit beyond what those joints can take apparently. But I'm no doctor, nor would I offer any medical advice even if I was.

something to do with better diagnosis as well joe

anonymous_joe

conno16 wrote: »

something to do with better diagnosis as well joe

Along those lines, Conno.

brianthebard

What do people make of the examples used? wilkinson, hopley, while slightly larger than an average man their size, are not big. De Villiers and Tindall at 16st, but at 6'2" are again not excessively large. The article seems to suggest that it is players own muscle bulk that is working against them to cause injuries, but could it have more to do with a disparity of size between players in different positions?

conneem-TT

snowman87 wrote: »

i tore my cruciate ligament playing amature club rugby.
to me it seems to be happening a lot more these days. does anyone else agree or does anyone have an explaination as to why this is happening (the cruciate in particular) is it because of too much bulk??

as an aside, my surgeon wants to take the graft for my new cruciate from my hanstring but i heard this can lead to hamstring pulls and problems down the line, is this true and would it be better to get the graft from the patella tendon instead?

I ruptured my ACL a couple of years ago at U20 level. Went to A&E and got misdiagnosed and sent home without even a crutch. Anyway got a correct diag from a physio and had it repared by one of the best men in the business (Mr. Moran surgeon and director of the Sports Injury Clinic). My graft came from my patella. I was told that grafts from the upper hamstring were ususally used for women who did not want an easily visable scar on their knee (but I am not a medic so take it with a pinch of salt).

At the time, my uncle asked me was I doing any intensive strenght training on my legs. I was doing seated leg extensions among other but I have since read that these are not the best for your knee liganments and squats a much better. He was from Aus and said even the aussie rules teams had recently abandoned leg extensions.

jdivision

A lot of NFL teams have significnatly reduced the use of free weights and are instead using kettle bells because they use the range of motion that will be used by the player in games. Just by watching some rugby players walk you can see some muscle imbalances, particularly rounded shoulders

brianthebard

conneem-TT wrote: »

At the time, my uncle asked me was I doing any intensive strenght training on my legs. I was doing seated leg extensions among other but I have since read that these are not the best for your knee liganments and squats a much better. He was from Aus and said even the aussie rules teams had recently abandoned leg extensions.

This was something else I meant to bring up, often we take it for granted that most professional players are also fantastic weight lifters and are given the best strength training but its not the case a lot of the time.

jd, kettlebells are still free weights.

jdivision

brianthebard wrote: »

jd, kettlebells are still free weights.

Fair point. While some NFL players are doing realtively experminental stuff that I'm sceptical about in terms of avoiding injury (forgive the fact that he sounds ridiculously like Michael Jackson) I think kettleballs have proven effective in terms of building up muscles using natural range of motion and movements that are likely to be used in a game rather than a bench presse tc.