Tackle technique and tackle-related injuries in high-level South African Rugby Union under-18 players: real-match video analysis

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. 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. 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.