Spriggs, Nicole ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1376-6166, Henley, Stefan, Kabaliuk, Natalia, Stitt, Danyon, Hweward-Swale, Annette, Xu, Congyu, Mangan, Kevin, Masters, Rich, Melzer, Tracy, Basu, Adrindam, Anderson, Tim, Snell, Deborah, Clark, Adrian, Alexander, Keith, Moylett, Sinead, Hamlin, Michael and Draper, Nick (2026) The association between tackle technique and head acceleration events in a cross-section of adolescent female rugby players. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. ISSN 1440-2440 (Print), 1878-1861 (Online) (doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2026.08.200)

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Abstract

Objectives: Tackle technique is well researched in male rugby players, but not in female players. This study investigated the relationship between different tackle characteristics for the tackler and ball carrier and head acceleration event magnitude in adolescent female rugby players.
Design: A prospective cohort study that followed forty-one, 12–17-year-old female rugby players over 2 seasons.
Methods: Instrumented mouthguards and video analysis were used to quantify head acceleration events, by recording the peak linear and peak rotational acceleration that were associated with tackle events in both games and trainings.
Results: We found twice as many head acceleration events ≥8 g for the tackler (n = 1233) than the ball carrier (n = 694). Tackling the ball carrier at the shoulder/chest resulted in the highest peak rotational acceleration (1973.6 ± 85.6 rads rad/s2, mean ± SE) for the tackler, which was higher than tackling the ball carrier at the torso/hip (1609.7 ± 69.8, p = 0.0002). A face up tackle recorded a higher peak rotational acceleration for the tackler than a face down tackle (1958.8 ± 83.3, 1601.6 ± 64.2 rads rad/s2, p < 0.0002, Cohen's d = 0.24). For both the ball carrier and the tackler, an uncontrolled fall resulted in higher peak linear acceleration compared to a controlled fall (3.8 ± 2.7 g, p < 0.005, d = 0.29 and 4.2 ± 3.0 g, p < 0.006, d = 0.30 respectively).
Conclusions: Modifying tackle behaviours in female rugby may reduce head acceleration event magnitude associated with tackles an d improve player safety.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Rugby Union, women , video analysis, mouthguards , player safety, head impacts
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General) Q Science > QP Physiology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports Medicine
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Exercise Activity and Rehabilitation Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Last Modified:	07 Sep 2026 09:23
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/54330

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