Women and former players are the focus of the latest round of targeted research projects funded by World Rugby following an independent review of open submissions. The successful projects will be announced at the dedicated women’s game session of the 2022 World Rugby Player Welfare Symposium, which draws to a close today.
Underscoring a key pillar of its six-point plan to cement rugby as the leading sport in welfare, World Rugby doubled its research investment commitment in 2021. The international federation issued a call for research houses to make submissions against priority areas, including the women’s game and former players.
The projects that will be undertaken, subject to finalising the necessary documentation, in 2022 include:
Developing Data-Derived Head Impact Reduction Protocols for Women’s Rugby Union (Swansea University, Wales)
Efficacy of the World Rugby Activate injury prevention programme in the female setting: a multi-centre home nations approach (University of Edinburgh, Scotland)
A cross-sectional study investigating retired elite female rugby players’ health (Fowler Kennedy Sports Medicine Clinic, Canada)
Injury prevention in female youth rugby union: a multi-site international study (University of Calgary, Canada). No time to waste: moving towards a necessary health support system for retired professional rugby players (Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Netherlands). The transparent awarding process was overseen by an independent Scientific Committee, who assessed and recommended the proposals and who will continue to have oversight on the projects moving forward. The process is also supported by the World Rugby Risk Management Committee.
Source: world.rugby