Are girls contact-ready? Video analysis of tackle training practices in adolescent girls rugby union

As most rugby injuries occur during tackles, understanding how contact skills are delivered in practice is critical for informing best practice and policy. World Rugby's contact load guidance and the Tackle Ready and Contact Confident tackle training (TT) programmes are recommended for progressive contact preparation. Within a coach TT education workshop initiative, this study aimed to characterise TT practices and adoption of World Rugby-recommended components in girls rugby. In this cross-sectional study, 251 practice sessions from 33 teams were analysed using a 10-item framework. Activities were classified as controlled contact (restrained) or full contact (unrestrained). Mixed-effects models were used to examine associations between age categories, TT workshop attendance, and contact exposure or programme adoption. Eighty-five percent of teams had at least one coach who had attended a workshop. Controlled contact activities occurred in 76.5% of sessions (median 14.7 min, Q1,Q3: 2.8,24.2). Full contact was infrequent (9.2%, median 0 min, Q1,Q3: 0,0). Coach workshop exposure was associated with greater controlled contact minutes (+9.08 min, p = 0.004) but no difference in full contact. Tackle Ready phases were observed in 70.9% of practices and Contact Confident in 68.5%, with only 2.8% of sessions incorporating all Contact Confident groups. Contact was predominantly delivered through isolated formats without equipment. Findings suggest selective TT adoption following workshop exposure, with lower odds of Contact Confident uptake (OR = 0.31, 95%CI: 0.09,1.00) and higher odds of Tackle Ready adoption (OR = 2.42, 95%CI: 0.85,6.90 ) for coaches exposed to TT workshop. Tailored support is needed to promote balanced and progressive contact training in rugby.