677 FO37 – ‘Body on the line’: experiences of tackle injury in women’s rugby union

Background Tackle-related injuries account for up to 67% of all match injuries in women's rugby. The perspective of women players on tackle injury can help key stakeholders understand psychosocial determinants of tackle injury risk and prevention. Objective Capture the psychosocial processes that explain tackle injury experiences and behaviours in women's rugby. Design Qualitative study using a grounded theory approach. Setting Senior women's rugby union at all levels of competition. Participants Adult women rugby union players, with at least 1-year playing experience at the senior level. Assessment of Risk Factors Participants' experiences of tackle injury, including perceptions of tackle injury risk factors and tackle injury prevention. Main Outcome Measurements The psychosocial processes that explain tackle injury experiences and behaviours in women's rugby. Results Three categories were central to participants' experiences of tackle injury: (1) embodied understandings of tackle injury, (2) gender and tackle injury risk and (3) influences on tackle injury behaviours. Participants reported a sense of fear in their experience of tackling but felt that tackle injuries were an inevitable part of the game. Tackle injury was described based on performance limitations. Tackle injury risks and behaviours were influenced by gendered factors perpetuated by relations, practices and structures within the playing context of women's rugby. Conclusions Women's tackle injury experiences were intertwined with the day-to-day realities of marginalisation and under preparedness. Women were socialised into an understanding that to be accepted and respected in rugby, they must internalise injury fears and conform to subcultural values which reward 'putting your body on the line'. Tackle injury experiences are embedded across multiple contexts ranging from the microlevel to the macrolevel. Beyond the stakeholders directly related to the players (e.g., teammates, coaches, family), there are other dimensions (e.g., club environments, national unions and wider society) that affect tackle injury experiences.