Rugby: Counting the wounded

Conrad Smith of the Hurricanes clutches his battered nose during the match against the Brumbies. Photo / Getty Images

Dan Carter and Richie McCaw could play less Super Rugby in 2011 than they did in 2007 when they were both forced to miss seven weeks with the controversial conditioning window.

The pair are among 12 of last year's regular starting 15 who have missed games because of injury, and there are many others in the wider All Blacks squad who have been sidelined in 2011. Carter has played just five games this campaign before injuring his hamstring in the 44-28 win over the Sharks in London and might not return for another four weeks. McCaw has played even less because of his troublesome broken foot and played just 40 minutes in
the first 10 weeks of the competition.

The criticism in 2007 was that the All Blacks were underdone by the time they reached the World Cup. In many respects, a number of All Blacks are undertaking their own conditioning window in 2011 - it's just called a different name: injuries.

Although perceptions are that there are more injuries in 2011 than previously, statistics reveal that's not the case. One hundred and eighty seven injury claims had been lodged with ACC after 10 rounds of this year's Super Rugby competition, compared to 182 at the same stage last year. The NZRU say this hasn't changed much in recent years, while an annual injury audit in the UK Premiership showed a 20 per cent drop in injuries in the 2009/10 season
from the previous campaign.

Considerable work is being done to collate more information on injuries in an effort to try to reduce the number in the future but, more often than not, it comes down to luck. In many respects, it's miraculous more players aren't injured more often.

Consider this: a forward is involved in about 300 impacts per match - the number is about 120 for a back - and 70 of these have a G-force greater than 8G (eight times greater than gravity). The biggest collision area often involves the midfield, which is why players in these positions have morphed from about 80kg in Warwick Taylor's day in the 1980s - even Frank Bunce, something of a blockbuster in the 1990s, was just 85kg - to the 110kg behemoths running
around today.

A recent study conducted by leading sports scientist Ross Tucker has shown that, on average, two players from each team will be injured per match and that a player will sustain three injuries over two Super Rugby seasons. Another study out of the UK (backed up by NZRU research) revealed teams should expect, on average, 23 per cent of players to be unavailable at any one time. Teams who struggle tend to have more injuries than more successful ones.

About 30 per cent more injuries happen in the second half of a match as players get fatigued. Most happen in the third quarter but drop off in the fourth quarter as up to seven substitutions are made.

Interestingly, players cover more distance in the second spell, with more accelerations and short sprints and twice as many impacts as the first half. This goes some way to explaining why games can often be tight for 50 minutes before opening up in the final stages and why substitutions are largely made at this time so teams can take advantage of tiring defences. The new law interpretations also mean the ball is in play for longer, which puts players more
at risk.

Injuries and an ability to manage player workload have become increasingly important considerations, especially in this year's expanded Super Rugby competition.

"It's the nature of the beast," says Chiefs doctor Zig Khouri. "It's a contact game and players are getting bigger, harder, stronger - and we put them in harm's way. We try to look at how many might have been avoidable if we had trained differently or when players return from injury but it's usually pretty random."

Blues doctor Stephen Kara is completing his masters on the epidemiology of rugby injuries, using the Blues as a case study, and has put his players through extensive testing. He's hoping this will give some insight into how to best avoid injuries and what training and playing workloads players can realistically sustain before they, quite literally, break.

"I believe our job now is not to be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff but to try to prevent injuries by player risk identification," Kara says.

Coaches seem to be taking heed of what their medicos are saying. They know being without a player for one game because he needs a rest is preferable to losing him for a season or large part thereof.