This advice is meant to guide you back to rugby quickly and more importantly safely with less risk of re-injury. If you have any questions or are unable to return to sport you should discuss your injury with a Physiotherapist. You can contact the NHS Physiotherapy service on 01792 487453.
Follow each of the stages below in order, do not move on until you can manage all the tasks in that stage without pain or swelling for 24 hours afterwards. You will complete some stages faster than others, this is normal.
STAGE 1 – PAIN-FREE |
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full pain-free movement in the injured joint / muscle |
No pain or swelling after normal daily activities (e.g. dressing, walking, stairs etc.) |
STAGE 2 – BASIC FUNCTION |
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Lower limb injury |
Upper limb injury |
Balance on 1 leg for 20 seconds |
1 full range pull-up |
Hop on 1 leg 10 times |
1 full range bodyweight dip |
STAGE 3 – BASIC FITNESS |
Jogging Backs should be able to jog 5km pain free Forwards should be able to jog 3km pain-free |
Sprinting complete both drills: (1) 20m walk, lie on your front, 20m run, lie on your back, 20m sprint. Be able to repeat this drill at full speed at least 10 times for example: walk from the dead ball line to goal line, down & up, run to 22m line, down & up, sprint to 10m line. Rest and then repeat
(2) Players should be able to complete the 1200m shuttle / Broncho test |
STAGE 3 – BASIC FITNESS continued |
Strength back to a minimum 75% of your pre-injury weightlifting for squat, deadlift, shoulder press, bench press e.g. if you could deadlift 160kg before, you should be back to at least 120kg |
Agility and Confidence Complete 5 falling press-ups from the knees |
STAGE 4 – AGILITY & NON-CONTACT TRAINING |
Complete a full non-contact training session, discuss this with your coach. Avoid tackling, being tackled, contested scrums, contested mauls and contested rucks. You can try using tackle bags, run, change direction, covering a loose ball, pass and lineouts |
Strength Back to a minimum 85% your pre-injury weightlifting for squat, deadlift, shoulder press, bench press e.g. if you could deadlift 160kg before, you should be back to at least 135kg |
Agility and confidence – complete all 3 (1) 1 falling press-up from standing (2) A star balance test in the press-up position (See video) (3) A triple hop test both sides – there should be less than 5% difference e.g. if you can cover 500cm on one leg, you should cover at least 475cm on the other leg |
STAGE 5 - CONTACT TRAINING |
Rugby Training complete 2 full contact training sessions |
Sprinting repeat drill (1) from stage 3 at full speed at least 20 times rest no more than 2 minutes after 10 repetitions if needed |
STAGE 6 – RETURN TO RUGBY |
Once you have completed all the above stages and tests you should be ready to play matches |
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