{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T07:12:24Z","timestamp":1791443544502,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":76,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,7]],"date-time":"2025-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1751846400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":6,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Scandinavian Med Sci Sports"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title><jats:p>Rugby is a high\u2010intensity contact sport with a high incidence of injuries. The aim of this systematic review and meta\u2010analysis was to compare the injury incidences between forwards and backs in all rugby formats (Rugby Union, Seven, and League). The PubMed (National Library of Medicine), Web of Science (Clarivate), Scopus (Elsevier), and SPORTDiscus (EBSCO) databases were searched from inception to October 10, 2024. A study was eligible if the number of rugby injuries per exposure time for backs and forwards was reported. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were compared between forwards and backs. After screening 1514 studies, a total of 49 studies were included. The total exposure time was 902\u2009280 player\u2010hours for backs and 1\u2009127\u2009610 player\u2010hours for forwards. Forwards had a slightly higher incidence of injuries in Rugby Union (IRR 1.03, CI 1.00\u20131.06) and Rugby League (IRR 1.31, CI 1.23\u20131.41). However, forwards had a lower overall incidence of injuries in Rugby Sevens (pooled IRR 0.78, CI 0.73\u20130.85). Strain injuries and injuries caused by tackling, running, or collision were more common in backs across rugby formats. In addition to a more standardized definition of injuries and more comprehensive subgroup analyses in future studies, different trends and patterns in injury occurrence regarding playing positions in all rugby formats should be further studied to develop more targeted injury prevention strategies in forwards and backs.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Trial Registration:<\/jats:bold> The study protocol was prospectively registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42025645250)<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/sms.70102","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,7]],"date-time":"2025-07-07T12:07:31Z","timestamp":1751890051000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Differences in Injury Incidence Between Player Positions Across All Rugby Formats\u2014A Systematic Review and Meta\u2010Analysis"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"35","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1294-6173","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matias","family":"Vaajala","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology Tampere University  Tampere Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9328-4721","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juho","family":"Laaksonen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology Tampere University  Tampere Finland"},{"name":"Department of Surgery Central Finland Central Hospital  Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4 Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2514-3193","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rasmus","family":"Liukkonen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology Tampere University  Tampere Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0159-5830","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oskari","family":"Pakarinen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery P\u00e4ij\u00e4t\u2010H\u00e4me Central Hospital  Lahti Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8178-9610","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ilari","family":"Kuitunen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics Kuopio University Hospital  Kuopio Finland"},{"name":"Institute of Clinical Medicine University of Eastern Finland  Kuopio Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_12_2_1","volume-title":"Laws of the Game","author":"World Rugby Passport","year":"2025"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/jfmk7040091"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsams.2011.11.256"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_5_1","volume-title":"Overview","author":"World Rugby","year":"2025"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1519\/JSC.0b013e3181a3928b"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2020-102529"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s40279-017-0838-4"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s40279-021-01603-w"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.smhs.2022.03.002"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_11_1","volume-title":"Players and Positions","author":"World Rugby","year":"2025"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s40279-017-0745-8"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1519\/JSC.0000000000002280"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsm.2007.037499"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.15171\/ijhpm.2014.71"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/9781119536604"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/ebmental-2019-300117"},{"key":"e_1_2_12_18_1","unstructured":"G.Schwarzer \u201cmeta: An R Package for Meta\u2010Analysis \u201dVersion [4.21.2]. 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