Match injury profiles in female South African youth and senior rugby union players.

Authors

Lara Paul, Clint Readhead, Wayne Viljoen, Mike Lambert, Isla J Shill, Ben Jones, Carolyn A Emery, Sharief Hendricks

Published in

Journal of science and medicine in sport. Sep 29, 2026. Epub Sep 29, 2026.

Abstract

To compare and describe match injury profiles between female South African youth and senior rugby union players.
A prospective cohort study on injuries in female rugby union players from National U16, U18, U20, and Senior competitions.
Team doctors and researchers recorded time-loss match injuries during South African national 2023 and 2024 women's rugby competitions. Poisson regression was used to estimate incidence rate ratios, comparing injury rates between age groups.
A total of 261 time-loss injuries were recorded. The Senior age group had 40% lower injury rates than the U16 age group (incidence rate ratio = 0.6, 95% confidence interval: 0.4-0.9, p = 0.009). The tackle was the leading cause of injury across all age groups. The tackler-related injury rate was 70% lower for Seniors compared to the U16 age group (incidence rate ratio = 0.3, 0.1-0.7, p = 0.006). The U16 age group recorded the highest proportion of concussions (40%). The Senior age group injury rate was 70% lower for concussions compared to the U16 age group (incidence rate ratio = 0.3, 0.2-0.6, p = 0.001).
Injury rates decreased with age in the national women's rugby competitions, with Senior players demonstrating a significantly lower overall injury rate than the U16 age group. Injury rates for adult players were similar to current international women's rugby union, while youth (U16, U18, U20) injury rates were lower than previously reported. Given the frequency of tackle-related injuries, focused injury prevention strategies should be identified and implemented across all developmental stages.

PMID:
42869719
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 14 Oct 2026.

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