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Players should be limited to 30 ‘game involvements’ per season in order to prevent a “significantly higher injury burden” in the following campaign, according to new research.
The research was carried out at the University of Bath and was funded by the Rugby Players Association (RPA).
A ‘game involvement’ is “any time spent on the field”, given “broader elements of load associated with matches”.
In 2018, players were limited to 35 games a season from 2019-20.
A mouthguard study – examining head impacts during matches and training – is currently taking place in the men and women’s elite games and its results could mean the number of suggested ‘game involvements’ is further reduced.
The research published on Wednesday found 20% of elite male players are involved in 25 games or more per season with 5% totalling 30 every campaign.
The study found 31 or more match involvements in a season leads to significantly higher injury burden in the following season.
RPA player welfare director Richard Bryan said: “For us to be able to develop and update that research is absolutely key for player welfare and, accordingly, the RPA position is that season limits should be reduced to a maximum of 30 match involvements of any kind for a player, in order to reduce injury risk.
“Going forward it is essential that this research, and other research on match/training exposure and injury risk continues to be refreshed along with the assessments and conclusions reached for both the men’s and women’s game.”
What else has been said?
World Rugby’s chief player welfare and rugby services officer Mark Harrington said: “World Rugby welcomes all research that has the ability to inform evidence-based moves to reduce the risk of injury in rugby through prevention, management and education.
“The RPA is an important partner and enabler in this priority area. We never stand still when it comes to protection of players at all levels as we continue to implement key strands of our six point plan to be the most progressive sport on player welfare.”
Former New Zealand centre Conrad Smith, now the International Rugby Players’ head of player welfare and high performance, added: “Decisions on match-load or player welfare must be evidence based and it’s vital that we balance this information with other studies like the instrumented mouth-guard research to get the very best information for our players.
“The key here is to ensure that professional players at all levels are carefully managed in terms of both their physical and mental load.”
