Injury epidemiology and prevention in youth rugby union (PhD Academy Award)

This mixed-methods thesis assessed the implementation and effectiveness of the Activate injury prevention exercise programme in English schoolboy rugby union. Activate is a rugby-specific warm-up designed to be used three times per week prior to training and games. Initially, I conducted a systematic review investigating the implementation of rugby injury prevention strategies to inform and develop the following research questions (figure 1): What are the knowledge, perceptions and awareness of schoolboy rugby coaches towards injury prevention, risk and Activate? Does attending an Activate workshops change these perceptions and affect Activate implementation? What barriers and facilitators are there to coaches implementing Activate? Is Activate effective in reducing injury risk in schoolboy rugby