Members of Bangor University’s Rugby Knowledge Exchange (RuKX) have been running player welfare clinics for national teams taking part in the Women’s U18 Six Nations. The tournament was held in Colwyn Bay and hosted by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).
The clinics covered current issues in female rugby drawing on research expertise from Bangor University, including concussion and breast injury awareness and menstrual health. They culminated in a roundtable Q&A session with WRU staff with responsibility for women’s rugby.
The players attending the welfare clinics came from the national teams of Ireland, Scotland, Italy and Wales. Data gathered during the sessions will support research underway in RuKX and be provided to the national federations to help improve their female player education programmes.
RuKX is part of the School of Psychology and Sport Science at Bangor University, bringing together a group of researchers with expertise in rugby player welfare, the female game, talent development and skill acquisition and coaching. RuKX members involved in running the clinics included RuKX Director, Dr Julian Owen, Dr Vicky Gottwald, Dr Sophie Harrison, Dr Seren Evans, Dr Melissa Jones and PhD researchers Steffi Studt and Eloise Kirby.
The group conducts collaborative research and provides training and consultancy to provide solutions to challenges facing the sport. Funding for RuKX research comes from a wide range of organisations including World Rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union, KESS2 and the Academy for Prevention, Health Equity and Wellbeing.
Women now make up a quarter of the global rugby playing population, but when it comes to injury risk and welfare, they cannot be viewed simply as smaller versions of men. Rather than impose existing welfare strategies that have been developed for men onto the women’s game, we need to understand the specific injury and welfare risks affecting women. That will enable us to develop tailored prevention strategies for female players.
