The more the merrier – an international collaboration publication: Insights into breast health issues in women’s rugby – Kilian Bibby

Academic collaboration is crucial for innovation and progress. When scholars from different background disciplines and institutions work together, they bring various perspectives which tend to lead to significant advancements. These cooperations are especially important today, as global challenges require shared but diverse solutions. International collaboration enhances research by sharing ideas, understanding different cultures, and providing access to unique resources and funding. 

About a year ago I was approached by Professor Joanna Wakefield-Scurr asking for my expertise regarding contact breast injuries in women’s Rugby, despite m only having started by PhD 6 months beforehand. She herself, due to her expertise in the breast health space among female athletes, was asked by the European Journal of Sport Science to lead a review on breast health issues in women’s Rugby. Back when I started my PhD and was looking into this research area, I started off with meeting people who were working with female athletes and had the fortune to talk at length with Professor Joanna Wakefield-Scurr initially. 

Breast health issues among female athletes is a prime example of an area that has not received adequate attention in academic circles. Despite its importance, the intersection of breast health and women’s rugby remains underexplored, partly due to the challenges of conducting specialised sports research and the historical focus on male-dominated sports. This gap in the literature means that many important health issues affecting female rugby players are not well understood or addressed. 

To the paper: 

Wakefield-Scurr J., St John E., Bibby K., Renwick N., Smith N., Hobbs S., and Brown N. (2024) Insights into breast health issues in women’s rugby. European Journal of Sport Science. Jul (1) [e-first] 

One of the aims when collaborating internationally is to of course address the topic comprehensively. The team here comprised of experts from various fields, including sports medicine, medical doctor, and women’s health, hailing from different parts of the world. This diversity enabled us to approach the research question from multiple angles and ensured that our findings were robust and generalisable across different populations. 

Being approached by the lead author was a humbling experience, as it emphasised the importance of expertise and reputation in academic collaborations. My previous work on sports-related health issues and my focus on women’s health in athletics had evidently caught the attention of my peers, highlighting how individual contributions can pave the way for collaborative opportunities. 

For this collaboration, my expertise was the knowledge of the current rugby injury surveillance landscape and my ongoing research on contact breast injuries among female rugby union players. This collaboration has not only allowed me to share my knowledge but also to learn from other experts who bring their unique insights and methodologies to the table. Such interactions are invaluable, as they push the boundaries of my understanding and inspire new avenues of research and further pave the way for further collaborations. 

To conclude; utilise your PhD supervisor’s network to meet people of interested but also don’t be afraid to send an -Mail out of the blue to somebody who might be of interest – they might reply.  

Academic collaboration, particularly at an international level, is essential for advancing research and addressing underrepresented topics in the literature.  

Ultimately, it is through such cooperative endeavours that we can hope to create a more comprehensive and inclusive body of knowledge, benefiting not only the academic community but society at large. 

Abstract: 

World Rugby^TM supports dedicated women’s welfare, injury surveillance and medical/technical interventions, yet breast health has received limited attention. This article aims to provide insights into breast health issues in rugby, including breast impacts and injuries. We discuss how breast anatomy and position may be problematic in rugby. Breast volume relates to body size, which may be increasing in women’s rugby, suggesting increased breast surface area and mass, potentially increasing injury risk. Breast health issues in rugby have been reported previously, with 58% of contact footballers (including rugby) experiencing breast injuries. There are damaging effects related to these breast health issues, with breast impacts often causing pain and swelling. Breast impacts may lead to haematomas, cysts and fat necrosis which can calcify over time making them difficult to distinguish from breast carcinoma, causing further investigation and anxiety. In sport, poor bra fit and insufficient support are associated with pain, skin strain and performance decrements. This article reports the potential implications of these breast health issues on performance in rugby. Recent breast-related projects supported by rugby communities may address recommendations identified in the literature for robust breast injury classifications, updated injury surveillance systems and prospective data collection on breast injury prevalence, severity and impact in rugby. These data should inform breast injury care pathways and intervention research, including evidence-based bra design. Understanding the implications of breast impacts on tissue properties, health and wellbeing is vital. Finally, data should inform rugby-specific breast education, raising awareness of this aspect of athlete health.