{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,27]],"date-time":"2026-09-27T07:39:55Z","timestamp":1790494795855,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Br J Sports Med"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,19]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Most concussions in rugby union occur during tackles. We investigated whether legislation to lower maximum tackle height would change tackle behaviour, and reduce concussion incidence rate.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In an observational evaluation using a prospective cohort design, 12 elite men\u2019s teams played in two competitions during the 2018\/2019 season. The Championship (90 games) retained standard Laws of Rugby for the tackle; the Championship Cup (36 games) used revised laws\u2014the maximum tackle height was lowered from the line of the shoulders on the ball carrier to the line of the armpits. Videos of tackles were analysed for ball carrier and tackler behaviour. Injury data were collected using standardised methods.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In the lowered tackle height setting, there was a significantly lower proportion of tackles; (1) in which ball carriers (rate ratio (RR) 0.83, 95%\u2009CI 0.79 to 0.86) and tacklers (RR 0.80, 95%\u2009CI 0.76 to 0.84) were upright, (2) in which the tackler\u2019s initial contact was to the ball carrier\u2019s head or neck (RR 0.70, 95%\u2009CI 0.58 to 0.84) and (3) in which initial contact was above the line of the ball carrier\u2019s armpit (RR 0.84, 95%\u2009CI 0.80 to 0.88). Concussion incidence rate did not differ between conditions (RR 1.31, 95%\u2009CI 0.85 to 2.01). Unexpectedly, compared with the standard tackle height setting, tacklers in the lowered tackle height setting were themselves concussed at a higher rate as measured by; (1) incidence (RR 1.90, 95%\u2009CI 1.05 to 3.45) and (2) concussions per 1000 tackles (2.09, 95%\u2009CI 1.15 to 3.80).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Legislating to lower the height of the tackle meant that tacklers made contact with the ball carrier\u2019s head and neck 30% less often. This did not influence concussion incidence rates. Tacklers in the lowered tackle height setting suffered more concussions than did tacklers in the standard tackle height setting.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2019-101557","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,19]],"date-time":"2019-12-19T17:25:18Z","timestamp":1576776318000},"page":"220-225","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":94,"title":["Does reducing the height of the tackle through law change in elite men\u2019s rugby union (The Championship, England) reduce the incidence of concussion? A controlled study in 126 games"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"55","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5049-2838","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Keith A","family":"Stokes","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Duncan","family":"Locke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Simon","family":"Roberts","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lewis","family":"Henderson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4294-4822","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ross","family":"Tucker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dean","family":"Ryan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Simon","family":"Kemp","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.1","unstructured":"Rugby Football Union . England professional rugby injury surveillance project 2017-18 season report 2019."},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2015-094982"},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2017-097883"},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2017-097895"},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2017-097912"},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2016-097217"},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Emery C , Palacios-Derflingher L , Black AM , et al . Does disallowing body checking in non-elite 13- to 14-year-old ice hockey leagues reduce rates of injury and concussion? a cohort study in two Canadian provinces. Br J Sports Med 2019:bjsports-2019-101092. doi:10.1136\/bjsports-2019-101092","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2019-101092"},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.8","unstructured":"World Rugby . New measures to limit contact with the head announced, 2016. Available: https:\/\/www.world.rugby\/news\/213339?lang=en [Accessed 17 Sep 2019]."},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.9","unstructured":"World Rugby . Laws of the game, 2019. Available: https:\/\/laws.worldrugby.org\/?law=showallbynumbers [Accessed 17 Sep 2019]."},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsm.2008.050864"},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.11","unstructured":"World Rugby . HIA protocol. Available: https:\/\/playerwelfare.worldrugby.org\/content\/getfile.php?h=030cc0e5445023d2887628100863ace2&p=downloads\/concussion\/HIA_Protocol_Detailed_Description_Landscape_EN.pdf [Accessed 17 Sep 2019]."},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2016-096461"},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.13","unstructured":"Kirkwood BR , Sterne JAC . Essential medical statistics. 2nd edn. Wiley, 2003."},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbiomech.2018.02.023"},{"key":"2024101110352487000_55.4.220.15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"603","DOI":"10.1249\/MSS.0000000000001461","article-title":"The effect of Tackler technique on head injury assessment risk in elite rugby Union","volume":"50","author":"Tierney","year":"2018","journal-title":"Med Sci Sports Exerc"}],"updated-by":[{"DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2019-101557corr1","type":"correction","label":"Correction","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,4]],"date-time":"2022-05-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1651622400000}}],"container-title":["British Journal of Sports Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/bjsports-2019-101557","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,11]],"date-time":"2024-10-11T13:36:17Z","timestamp":1728653777000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bjsm.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bjsports-2019-101557"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,19]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,2]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,2]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/bjsports-2019-101557"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bjsports-2019-101557","relation":{},"ISSN":["0306-3674","1473-0480"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0306-3674","type":"print"},{"value":"1473-0480","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,19]]}}}