Abstract

STARLING, L; REDHEAD, C; VILJOEN, W  and  LAMBERT, M. SA Rugby Injury and Illness Surveillance and Prevention Project (SARIISPP) The Currie Cup Premiership Competition Injury Surveillance Report 2019. SA J. Sports Med. [online]. 2020, vol.32, n.1, pp.1-13. ISSN 2078-516X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2078-516x/2020/v32i1a8560.

As part of the SA Rugby Injury and Illness Surveillance and Prevention Project (SARIISPP), The Currie Cup 2019 Premiership Division Competition ('The Currie Cup') injury data were recorded throughout the tournament by the medical doctors and medical support staff of the respective teams. All seven teams were required to record every match injury that occurred in their team. Only match injuries and match time exposure for each participating team were considered for this report. The injury rate of Time-Loss injuries for The Currie Cup 2019 was 94 (74 to 113) injuries per 1000 player hours (mean and 95% confidence intervals - see p8 for explanation), which is higher than the international rate of 81 (63 to 105) injuries per 1000 player hours[1], and equates to 1.9 injuries per team per match. The Toyota Free State Cheetahs had the highest injury rate for Time-Loss injuries for the 2019 tournament, but this was not significantly higher than any other team, or the 2019 tournament average. The Phakisa Pumas had the lowest injury rate for Time-Loss injuries for the 2019 tournament, with their 2019 injury rate being significantly lower than their 2015-2018 tournament average. This finding is interesting to note as the 2019 tournament was won by the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, with the Phakisa Pumas ranking at the bottom of the log at the end of the tournament. In previous years the teams who ranked in 1^st or 2^nd positions of the competition had significantly lower injury rates than those who ranked in last position[2]. As such the injury rates in the 2019 tournament reflected an opposite trend to previous years. While the Toyota Free State Cheetahs had the highest number of Time-Loss injuries in 2019 they were second lowest on average severity and the Phakisa Pumas, with the lowest number of Time-Loss injuries, had the highest average severity. What this means is that although the Toyota Free State Cheetahs had the most injuries, they did not lose many days of training and match play due to injury, while the Phakisa Pumas would have lost several player training and match days due to their injuries. Although teams may have a low injury rate, injuries of a high severity still represent a sizable burden to the team, resulting in many training and match days lost due to injury for that team. This highlights the importance of collecting severity data, and not injury rates on their own. During The Currie Cup 2019 tournament, injuries estimated at 1-7days severity occurred at a higher rate than for the 2014-2018 tournaments, although this was not significant. Comparison of estimated vs actual severity of injuries for The Currie Cup 2019 showed that doctors and medical support staff slightly overestimated the number of injuries of 1-7 days severity. The average severity of Time-Loss injuries in the 2019 tournament was 13 days, which is lower than the 37 days reported in the England Professional Rugby Injury Surveillance Project 2018 report[3]. The median injury severity of all Time-Loss injuries was 4 days with 25% of injuries losing 3 days or less and 25% of injuries losing 10 days or more due to injury. For the first time contusion/bruise injuries were the most common injury type, with muscle (rupture/strain/tear) and sprained ligament injuries recording the second and third most common injury types, respectively. The head remained the most commonly injured body location. Concussion was the most common injury diagnosis for the fourth consecutive year. The tackle remained the most common injury event for the sixth consecutive year, with the incidence of tackle-related injuries similar to the 2014-2018 average. In February 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) published an updated consensus statement for methods of recording and reporting epidemiological data on injury and illness in sport[4]. The Currie Cup 2019 report has aligned with this more recent consensus statement. In certain sections of this report, such as the subsequent injury section for example, additional details on injuries have been added to assist practitioners when they report these injuries. Details on these additions are described in the Definitions section on p8.

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