{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T12:55:32Z","timestamp":1781614532700,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]],"date-time":"2025-12-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766102400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]],"date-time":"2025-12-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766102400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["European Journal of Sport Science"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>There is no empirical evidence that soft\u2010padded headgear is protective against head injury risk in rugby. However, studies that have assessed purported protective effects have not accounted for rates of contact. The aim of this study was to compare head injury rates while considering tackle\u2010event exposure in players with and without headgear. In the 2018 and 2019 professional men's SuperRugby season, video analysts recorded headgear use, playing position, match time and head injury assessments (proxy for head injury risk) for each player. Tackle\u2010event involvements for each player were obtained from third\u2010party video analysis provider. Tackle\u2010related head injury rates were calculated per 1000\u00a0h (incidence) and per 1000 tackle\u2010events (propensity), and compared between headgear and non\u2010headgear wearers using incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals and Poisson regression models. Players wearing headgear were involved in more tackles per match than players without headgear (IRR 1.07, 95% CI 1.05\u20131.09). Head injury incidence (IRR: 1.78 95% CI: 1.11\u20132.70) and propensity (IRR: 1.66 95% CI: 1.04\u20132.52) were higher in players wearing headgear. However, statistical models found no difference in this risk between positional groups. A lack of protective effect is consistent with previous studies and could be explained by World Rugby's headgear design regulations while increased risk may be a result of greater injury susceptibility. As World Rugby's headgear regulations change and further advancements in headgear is made, it is important to continue to examine their effect on head injury risk at an individual level.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/ejsc.70105","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,20]],"date-time":"2025-12-20T03:26:43Z","timestamp":1766201203000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Wearing Regulation Soft\u2010Padded Headgear Does Not Reduce the Risk of Head Injuries in Professional Men's Rugby Players: An Observational Cohort Study"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7778-7783","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"James","family":"Brown","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport Leeds Beckett University  Leeds UK"},{"name":"Division of Physiological Sciences, Department of Human Biology Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town  Cape Town South Africa"},{"name":"Department of Exercise Sport and Lifestyle Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine (ISEM) Stellenbosch University  Cape Town South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marc","family":"Douglas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"World Rugby  Dublin Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ben","family":"Hester","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"World Rugby  Dublin Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Manish","family":"Mohan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport Leeds Beckett University  Leeds UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3416-6266","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sharief","family":"Hendricks","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport Leeds Beckett University  Leeds UK"},{"name":"Division of Physiological Sciences, Department of Human Biology Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town  Cape Town South Africa"},{"name":"Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) Wallenberg Research Centre  Stellenbosch South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Brady","family":"Wiseman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Exercise Sport and Lifestyle Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine (ISEM) Stellenbosch University  Cape Town South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matthew","family":"Boshoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Exercise Sport and Lifestyle Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine (ISEM) Stellenbosch University  Cape Town South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stephanie","family":"Phillips","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Exercise Sport and Lifestyle Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine (ISEM) Stellenbosch University  Cape Town South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Bromfield","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Exercise Sport and Lifestyle Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine (ISEM) Stellenbosch University  Cape Town South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amy","family":"Howard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Exercise Sport and Lifestyle Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine (ISEM) Stellenbosch University  Cape Town South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lindsay","family":"Starling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport Leeds Beckett University  Leeds UK"},{"name":"World Rugby  Dublin Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4274-6236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ben","family":"Jones","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport Leeds Beckett University  Leeds UK"},{"name":"Division of Physiological Sciences, Department of Human Biology Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town  Cape Town South Africa"},{"name":"School of Behavioural and Health Sciences Faculty of Health Sciences Australian Catholic University  Brisbane Australia"},{"name":"Rugby Football League  Manchester UK"},{"name":"PREM Rugby  London UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ross","family":"Tucker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport Leeds Beckett University  Leeds UK"},{"name":"World Rugby  Dublin Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_13_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/19417381231174461"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/2325967120902908"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports\u20102022\u2010106656"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/17461391.2015.1046192"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports\u20102019\u2010101293"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/24748668.2013.11868690"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_8_1","volume-title":"Essential Medical Statistics (Second)","author":"Kirkwood B.","year":"2003"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/17461391.2015.1025858"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dyh346"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1249\/MSS.0b013e3181864bee"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsams.2012.08.005"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports\u20102016\u2010095959"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ejsc.12307"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3171\/2014.1.JNS13916"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1123\/ijspp.2023\u20100086"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1055\/a\u20101345\u20109163"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14763141.2021.2016929"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s40279\u2010023\u201001953\u20107"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports\u20102017\u2010097895"},{"key":"e_1_2_13_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s40279\u2010021\u201001603\u2010w"}],"container-title":["European Journal of Sport Science"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1002\/ejsc.70105","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1002\/ejsc.70105","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1002\/ejsc.70105","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T12:05:24Z","timestamp":1781611524000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/ejsc.70105"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]]},"references-count":20,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1002\/ejsc.70105"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/ejsc.70105","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["1746-1391","1536-7290"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1746-1391","type":"print"},{"value":"1536-7290","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]]},"article-number":"e70105"}}