Why are rugby injuries rising?

Thursday 21 January 2010
Published By: Ben Welch
Guinness Premiership > Newcastle Falcons

If you thought there seemed to be a lot more injuries than usual in last year's Guinness Premiership, you were right.

A report by Premier Rugby, the RFU and the Rugby Players' Association revealed a 20 per cent increase in the 2008-09 season, compared to the previous year.

Whether it's down to the number of matches or simply the fact that players today are bigger and hit harder than they were in the past isn't entirely clear.

However, until last year a downward trend had been seen since 2002-03 - so something has clearly changed.

RFU head of sports medicine Dr Simon Kemp explained that video analysis is going to be used to understand how changes in the game (more tackles, rucks, mauls etc) are contributing to the figures.

Writing for the Daily Telegraph towards the end of last year, former Ireland captain Keith Wood suggested that extra games are being added to schedules in an effort to raise more money, but this is causing a rise in injuries.