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AbstractBackground Understanding injury risk and establishing effective injury prevention within Rugby Union depends on proficient data collection and well reported injury trends. Objective To assess the four-year injury incidence, severity of burden of match injuries sustained in the United Rugby Championship (URC), a multi-continent rugby league (Europe and Africa).Design Descriptive; Longitudinal. Setting URC clubs during the 2019/20 to 2022/2023 seasons.Participants All players involved in first team rugby from the URC clubs were invited to participate, mean consent proportion ranged from 65%-83% over the study period. Interventions Four-year longitudinal assessment of injury trends of the teams participating within the URC league. Main Outcome Measures All time-loss match injuries sustained between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2023. Incidence (injuries/1000 h), severity (mean days lost per injury), burden (days-lost/1000 h) and proportions (%) were calculated. Results The proportion of players that consented from the URC clubs varied by 18% over the four years. Match injury incidence, burden and severity was 77.6 injuries/1000 h, 2955.5 days-lost/1000 h and 38.5 mean days lost. The top three body areas over the four years were head (28.1 injuries per 1000 h; 362 days-lost/1000 h), shoulder (8.9 injuries per 1000 h; 427 days-lost/1000 h) and knee (7.5 injuries per 1000 h; 695 days-lost/1000 h). Concussions were the most common head injury accounting for 81% of match head injuries. The tackle event contributed to the highest proportion of match injuries (being tackled: 19–27%, tackling: 28–37%). Conclusion Injury incidence, burden and severity were similar to those previously reported in professional Rugby Union. The head, and specifically concussions, should be the focus of player welfare strategies. The influence of the proportion of player consenting on match injury incidence statistics/reporting? requires further consideration.
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