Falling and Landing Framework (FLF): A Consensus on a Novel Falling and Landing Video Analysis Framework for Use Across Rugby Codes

Understanding how players experience head-acceleration events (HAE) whilst playing rugby is a priority area of research. In both rugby union and league, video analysis frameworks have been developed to comprehensively define key features of contact events. However, these frameworks were developed prior to recent advances in our understanding regarding the proportion of HAEs that occur due to head-to-ground mechanisms and do not consider important post-contact variables. Therefore, there is a need to supplement the existing frameworks in order to capture how players fall and land post-tackle. This study used the Delphi method with an interdisciplinary, international team of researchers, coaches and video analysts (working with a variety of playing levels in rugby union and league) to establish a consensus for defining falling and landing events. Subsequently, a draft framework was developed on which the research team provided feedback via online meetings, culminating in the falling/landing framework that each member of the research team rated agreement on, via a nine-point Likert-type scale, with consensus deemed to be reached when the median score was ≥ 7. The median scores were 8.0 (7.8-8.0), 8.0 (7.0-9.0) and 8.0 (8.0-9.0) for 'Additional Contextual Characteristics for Carry and Tackle Events,' 'Falling Characteristics of Tackle and Carry Events,' and 'Landing Characteristics of Tackle and Carry Events,' respectively. This novel framework defines more comprehensive falling and landing variables to capture post-contact injury and performance markers in both rugby union and league, through a standardised approach.