ABSTRACT
Rugby; like other contact sports; is associated with injuries. We set out to investigate all injuries that led either to a temporary stoppage of the game and/or substitution of a player during the Rugby World Cup pre-qualifying tournament. A total of six matches were played involving the Arabian Gulf; Kenya; Namibia and Zimbabwe. We recorded a total of 47 injuries; giving an injury rate of eight per match. The number of injuries decreased from 38.3in the first matches to 23.4in the final ones. The majority of the injuries affected soft tissues; the most serious of them being a concussion. Anatomically; the lower limbs suffered the majority of injuries (46.81) followed by the head; trunk and upper limbs with 21.29; 17.03and 12.78respectively. Slightly more injuries occurred during the defensive actions (53.19) than offensive (46.81) ones. More injuries occurred in thee second half (61.70) than the first (38.3). Some of our findings are in agreement with those of earlier studies. However; further investigations are necessary to establish a clear cut pattern of injuries in this sport