Professional players not facing greater injury risk, says study

IRISH Rugby Union Players Association (IRUPA) boss Omar Hassanein believes the latest findings in the English game that professional players do not run a greater risk of injury now than previously will be echoed in this country.

Contrary to the perception that professional rugby is now a more dangerous game, with higher injury rates, the 2010-11 England Rugby Injury and Training audit, published yesterday, showed injury rate among pro players had effectively remained stable since the first report was commissioned in 2002.

There had been a 16% rise in the likelihood of injury last season, from 80 injuries per 1,000 hours in 2009-10 to 93 but that had remained within the “normal level” of season-by-season variation and the 2010-11 figures related to an increase in injuries that kept players out for a week or less and a small increase in injuries that resulted in more than 84 days’ absence.