Insights into breast health issues in women's rugby

This review discusses female‐specific health considerations in injury and illness surveillance and provides rugby‐specific recommendations for future surveillance. Identifying priority injury and illness problems by determining those problems with the highest rates within women's rugby may highlight different priorities than sex comparisons between men's and women's rugby. Whilst sports exposure is the primary risk for health problems in sports injury and illness surveillance, female athletes have health domains that should also be considered. Alongside female athlete health domains, studies investigating rugby injuries and illnesses highlight the need to broaden the health problem definition typically used in rugby injury and illness surveillance. Using a non‐time‐loss health problem definition, recording female‐specific population characteristics, embedding female athlete health domains and having up‐to‐date injury and illness coding systems should be prioritized within surveillance systems to begin to shed light on potential interactions between sports exposure, health domains and, injuries and illnesses. We call for a collaborative approach across women's rugby to facilitate large injury and illness datasets to be generated and enable granular level categorization and analysis, which may be necessary for certain female athlete health domains. Applying these recommendations will ensure injury and illness surveillance systems improve risk identification and better inform injury and illness prevention strategies in women's rugby.

Is your system fit for purpose? Female athlete health considerations for rugby injury and illness surveillance systems

Moore,

McCarthy‐Ryan,

Palmer

et al. 2024

Prioritise safety, optimise success! Return to rugby postpartum

Donnelly,

Coltman,

Dane

et al. 2024

Pregnancy and childbirth involve substantial physical, physiological and psychological changes. As such, postpartum rugby players should be supported and appropriately prepared to return to the demands of rugby alongside the additional demands of motherhood. This review aims to discuss specific perinatal considerations that inform a rugby player's readiness to return‐to‐sport postpartum and present an approach to rehabilitation. Before engaging in full rugby training and matchplay, postpartum players should have progressed through the initial phases of rehabilitation and graded sports‐specific training to prepare them for the loads they will be exposed to. Additional rehabilitation considerations include minimising deconditioning during pregnancy; medical concerns; the abdominal wall; the pelvic floor; perinatal breast changes, breastfeeding and risk of contact breast injury; body mass; nutritional requirements; hormonal considerations; athlete identity and psychological considerations; joining team training; return to contact and tackle training; evaluating player load tolerance and future research, policy and surveillance needs. A whole‐systems, biopsychosocial approach following an evidence informed return‐to‐sport framework is recommended when rehabilitating postpartum rugby players. Health and exercise professionals are encouraged to use the perinatal‐specific recommendations in this review to guide the development of postpartum rehabilitation protocols and resources.

Women's rugby as a catalyst for advancing female‐specific science and safety in sport

Saynor,

Hassan,

Wilson

2024

Women's rugby is experiencing unprecedented growth and professionalisation, yet the research underpinning player welfare and performance remains significantly underdeveloped. This special issue of the European Journal of Sport Science addresses the critical need for evidence‐based practices tailored to female rugby players. Current literature is predominantly male‐focused, despite known sex differences impacting training, injury mechanisms and health outcomes. In particular, the underrepresentation of female‐specific studies presents risks to player safety and performance optimisation. This issue presents cutting‐edge research, from world‐leading interdisciplinary experts and applied practitioners, on three main themes: female‐specific injury and illness surveillance and education, tackle safety and performance, and intersectional research agendas. Contributions include insights into female‐specific health domains, such as breast and pelvic floor health, emphasising the need for tailored care pathways and interventions. Additionally, the importance of gender‐responsive coaching and tackle skill acquisition is highlighted, advocating for progressive, context‐specific training frameworks. Moreover, an intersectional approach to research is proposed, to address the broader social and material contexts affecting marginalised women and girls in rugby. These findings aim to drive interdisciplinary, inclusive research, ensuring that the professionalisation of women's rugby is matched by advancements in scientific understanding and applied practice. This special issue not only celebrates the progress made, but also calls for ongoing efforts to bridge the knowledge gap, ensuring holistic support for female rugby players from participation, through to retirement and beyond.