Rugby Injuries in Male School Players

Introduction

Rugby is one of the most popular contact sports that is being played in many countries across the globe. Rugby union has been considered as an amateur sport until 1995. However, in recent years there has been a remarkable improvement in terms of professionalism. A lot of rugby participants remain to be amateurs, notably the greatest strength of the code remain to be enthusiastic young rugby players (Dhillion et al., 2014). The physical and rigorous nature of the tackle during the matches puts rugby players at risk of encountering injuries. According to Sigurdsson (2013), injuries caused by tackle account for about 60 per cent of all injuries that are encountered during rugby matches. This research will critically examine characteristics, determinants and incidences of rugby injuries and provide empirical suggestions for prevention and need for future research. This research will primarily focus its findings on male school rugby players, due to the fact that there is substantial data on injuries affecting the male population as compared to the female population. Generally, this research will study players below 18 years of age. This is considered to be a suitable distinction. In this study, a literature review will be undertaken using sport-discuss and Medline.

Aim

This paper purposes to bring forth the characteristics, determinants and incidences of rugby injuries and suggestions on how these injuries can be prevented or reduced to a tolerable level.

The aim of this study is to clearly state the preventive measures that can undertaken in rugby injuries

Objectives

In order to meet the aforementioned aim of this study, it will be of great significant for the researcher to break it down into achievable objectives. Notably, the most suitable objectives for this study would then be as provided below:

1. To clearly outline the initiatives that can undertake to prevent rugby injuries

2. To identify and evaluate incidences of rugby injuries

3. To identify causes of rugby injuries

Research Questions

In order to meet the objectives of this study, answerable research questions will be framed. Notably, if these questions will be answered appropriately, then they will be able to meet the objectives of this research, and ultimately, the aim of the study. They are as presented below:

The primary research question is as follows:

What measures can be used in order to prevent rugby injuries?

Other secondary research questions include:

Under what circumstances do rugby injuries occur?

What effect do such injuries have on the victims?

Literature Review

Common rugby injuries and their prevention

Most rugby injuries often occur during collisions such as rucking, mauling and tackling. According to Bohu et al., (2009) injuries of an upper limb often occur in rugby due to the physical nature of the ball and handling of the ball. Injuries of the shoulder such as acromioclavicular sprains and fractures of collar bone can result in prolonged injuries lay off. Below are some of the common rugby injuries experienced by players and their prevention.

Hamstring strain

Full-time training among rugby payers has significantly contributed to their general body outfit, as such, most rugby players who attend training on a daily basis tend to grow bigger and stronger. Notably, these increase in physical demands have contributed to risk to the lower limb and additional strain thus increasing injuries. In 2003, a hamstring strain affected the whole squad of England's world cup winners. During activities such as sprinting, muscles of the hamstring can be compelled to stretch beyond the limits thereby making the muscle tissue to become torn. Strains are caused due to tear in the muscle and depending on the adverse nature of the effect, it can be grouped as a first, second or third degree (Freitag et al., 2015).

Prevention: A warm-up of the player before matches and training is considered ideal in reducing injuries caused by a muscle strain. This is because muscle tends to be more extensible when the temperature of the tissue has been increased by one to two degrees. According to Brooks & Kemps (2011), a good warm-up should last for about 25 minutes, commencing gently and completing at full pace activities.

Thumb Fracture dislocation

This type of injury has its roots traced back in the 1800s. As described by Dr Bennet, who suffered thumb fracture-dislocation whilst riding his horse in 1884. Anatomically, it is a joint surface fracture between the writs, thumb and the deep ligament detachment that usually stabilize the joint. Majority of orthopedics consultants for a long time have advocated for a surgical way of fixing the problem, due to functional instability and long term problems that might occur (Engebretsen & Steffen, 2010).

Prevention: According to Fasciglione et al (2007), all rugby players’ thumbs should be taped by a chartered physiotherapist. It should, however, be noted that even after taping has been done, thumb fracture dislocation can still occur due to rugby collision nature.

Sprained Ankle

A sprained ankle is a common injury in sports such as rugby. It is the damage of soft tissue around the ankle and it often happens when there is an inward twist of the ankle. Just like ligaments damage, the capsule that covers the ankle joint can equally be damaged. Such damage leads to bleeding around the tissue which then results to swollen ankle that can be very painful (Cusimano et al., 2010).

Prevention: Bracing and taping the ankle can significantly assist in reducing ankle sprains risk. Recent research has denoted that the incidence of injuries in individuals with taped ankles was 4.8 sprains of ankle per one thousand participants’ games, this is far higher than 2.4 ankle sprain per one thousand participants in individuals with ankle braces (MacQueen & Dexter, 2010).

Concussion

Just like any other sports activity that involves contact and speed, concussion often occurs in rugby. Forgetfulness, confusion, headaches, blurred vision and dizziness are some of the possible concussion symptoms. Every rugby player with a suspected concussion should be gotten out of the game or training. It is essential that rugby players are thoroughly assessed and cleared for play by a qualified and experienced medical professional (Bohu, 2009).

Treatment of Rugby Injury

There are a few things that should be considered when recovering from a rugby injury, Just like most sports, recovering flexibility and strength after an injury are essential to good rehabilitation. Shoulder, hip, neck and core strength and hamstring flexibility and flexors of the hip are essential for overall conditioning. Notably, it can reduce the chances of a rugby player to sustain a secondary injury.

Methodology

This chapter will provide the methodology that will be used in this study, and as such, it will give detailed explanations regarding the manner in which data was collected, as well as some important factors, which consequently aided in meeting the objective of this chapter. Notably, accomplishing this chapter effectively would imply that this study will be able to meet the objectives of this study. In this regard, this chapter will start by providing the research design. Thereafter, this will be followed by a provision of the research sample, then the data collection tools and the timeframe required of this work. After these, the chapter will provide the ethical considerations, and finally, the process of data analysis that will be used in analyzing the findings of the research.

Research Design

This research will adopt a descriptive survey approach design. According to Flick (2018), a survey is defined as a collection of data from a given population in order to determine the status quo of that given population giving regard to various variables. Research based on survey is regarded as one of the best method used by some social scientist whose aim is to collect original data. This study will therefore adopt a descriptive survey design since the researchers will be more interested in acquiring information relating to attitude and opinion of the rugby players regarding measures that can be undertaken to prevent injuries during match and training.

Research Sample

A sample is a specific population subject. Generally, the size of the sample depends on research design, number of variables, accessible population size and data analysis method. In this study, a graded random sampling will be employed. A total of 20 rugby players will be subjected to the study. The sample size will be used because it provides large variable hence the researcher is able to establish the truth. Notably, this number of participants (20) was noted to be suitable for this study, owing to the fact that having to get their perception would determine the perception of the general population and thus, would aid in making significant conclusions, as well as analysis. All participant in the research will come in voluntary basis and no form of cohesion will be allowed in the process. All data collected will be considered opinions of the respondents and not of the interviewer (Smith, 2015).

Data collection tools

This study will adopt the use of qualitative research, owing to the fact that qualitative research allows the use of questionnaires, as it is regarded as most appropriate for this study. The questionnaires will allow the researcher to get the opinion of the participants, and derive their thoughts regarding certain subjects (Silverman, 2016). Whilst taking into consideration, qualitative research, it is of significance that this study will use semi-structured questionnaire, which will be presented to twenty rugby players as a primary source of data. A semi-structured questionnaire is good enough to capture the required data without deviation but also give room for a further explanation. Generally, the use of a questionnaire offers a structured approach to data collection to avoid biases and save time (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Also, the respondent will be at ease in a structured approach to data collection without feeling that they are being interrogated.

Ethical consideration

This research will ensure that it meets all the ethical considerations, in order for the researcher to ascertain that it is in accordance with the required ethical standards (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Firstly, it is significant to take note of the fact that the participants will be treated with top most priority, and this then implies that it is only the researcher who will get access to them and no any other third party. In addition, the content of their answers will be treated with top most confidentiality (Smith, 2015). In this regard, when the participants will have finished producing their answers and the questionnaires will have been gotten back, for analysis, immediately after the analysis, the answered semi-structured questionnaires will be discarded, in order for them not to get to the hands of any third party.

Secondly, this study will ensure that the participants involved are anonymous, and in facilitating this, the semi-structured questionnaires will not require the participants to provide their personal details in any part of the questionnaire. Thy will not be required to provide any personal information that may concern them (Smith, 2015). Finally, the participants will be granted the opportunity to withdraw from the study whenever time they feel like, and as such, it would be evident that the researcher will not be forcing the participants to participate in this study. This would them imply that if any of the participant will wish to withdraw from the study after answering some part of the questionnaire, his or her semi-structured questionnaire will be discarded immediately, still to enhance the concept of anonymity, as well as confidentiality (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Overall, it should be taken into consideration that if the researcher is able to meet all the aforementioned guidelines on ethics, then this research will follow the right path, and as such, would be accepted for any other study.

Data Analysis

There shall be a cross comparison of responses made by each rugby player respondent on each subject to make a poll on common response. Deduction shall then be drawn on response polls on each subject question. The findings of the research will be derived, and thereafter, they will be analyzed by the use of thematic analysis. Notably, thematic analysis allows the researcher to develop significant themes, based on the provisions of the participants in this study, these having been analyzed, bring forth the development of significant subjects, which would require the participants to expound upon them (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).

Limitation

It's worth noting that this research shall have practical limitations. The respondents in this research are sampled through graded random sampling and criterion. Since all the five field coinvent are trained in a similar manner and the questionnaires are thoroughly translated, it is almost a guarantee that their perspective of epistemology will not vary from those gotten from the main researchers. These components might cause biases in the data which is considered to be independent. However, they can be transferred to another similar population.

Additionally, since qualitative interviewing will be used as the primary method of collecting data, this can also be seen as a limitation. This is due to the fact that semi-structured interviews are an intricate method of gathering data, the semi-structured interviews are not standardized or fully systematic. In this study, it will be more appropriate to partially tailor questions and topics as well as questions sequence for every interviewee. This will be made in order to give accurate and detailed data following the nature of research objects, methods and questions.

Conclusion

It has been established that, even though awareness for the concussion effect has been significantly increased, still a lot should be done in order to satisfactorily tackle rugby injury issue and cut down on the number of concussion gotten by players. A literature review has also denoted that it is possible to reduce the high number of incidences through good management, change in the game and appropriate education among the players. Lack of concussion awareness in the past has led to increase in the number of concussion. In the past there was no proper protocol or guideline put in place to help players in reducing concussion. This research remains to be important due the fact that it will be able find out the underlying problems from the grassroots, and as such, it will come up with an appropriate mechanism and initiatives that will be used to prevent injury among rugby players in future.

Reference

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