@article{ref1,
title="Tackle technique and tackle-related injuries in high-level South African Rugby Union under-18 players: real-match video analysis",
journal="British journal of sports medicine",
year="2016",
author="Burger, Nicholas and Lambert, Michael I. and Viljoen, Wayne and Brown, James C. and Readhead, Clint and Hendricks, Sharief",
volume="50",
number="15",
pages="932-938",
abstract="BACKGROUND: The high injury rate associated with rugby union is primarily due to the tackle, and poor contact technique has been identified as a risk factor for injury. We aimed to determine whether the tackle technique proficiency scores were different in injurious tackles versus tackles that did not result in injury using real-match scenarios in high-level youth rugby union. <br><br>METHODS: Injury surveillance was conducted at the under-18 Craven Week tournaments (2011-2013). Tackle-related injury information was used to identify injury events in the match video footage and non-injury events were identified for the injured player cohort. Injury and non-injury events were scored for technique proficiency and Cohen's effect sizes were calculated and the Student t test (p<0.05) was performed to compare injury versus non-injury scores. <br><br>RESULTS: The overall mean score for front-on ball-carrier proficiency was 7.17±1.90 and 9.02±2.15 for injury and non-injury tackle events, respectively (effect size=moderate; p<0.05). The overall mean score for side/behind ball-carrier proficiency was 4.09±2.12 and 7.68±1.72 for injury and non-injury tackle events, respectively (effect size=large; p<0.01). The overall mean score for front-on tackler proficiency was 7.00±1.95 and 9.35±2.56 for injury and non-injury tackle events, respectively (effect size=moderate; p<0.05). The overall mean score for side/behind tackler proficiency was 5.47±1.60 and 8.14±1.75 for injury and non-injury tackle events, respectively (effect size=large; p<0.01). SUMMARY: Higher overall mean and criterion-specific tackle-related technique scores were associated with a non-injury outcome. The ability to perform well during tackle events may decrease the risk of injury and may manifest in superior performance.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0306-3674",
doi="10.1136/bjsports-2015-095295",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2015-095295"
}