LAUSR

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. No commercial reuse. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. WHAT DID I DO? This mixedmethods thesis assessed the implementation and effectiveness of the Activate injury prevention exercise programme in English schoolboy rugby union. Activate is a rugbyspecific warmup designed to be used three times per week prior to training and games. Initially, I conducted a systematic review investigating the implementation of rugby injury prevention strategies to inform and develop the following research questions (figure 1): ► What are the knowledge, perceptions and awareness of schoolboy rugby coaches towards injury prevention, risk and Activate? ► Does attending an Activate workshops change these perceptions and affect Activate implementation? ► What barriers and facilitators are there to coaches implementing Activate? ► Is Activate effective in reducing injury risk in schoolboy rugby? I coauthored the Youth Rugby Injury Surveillance and Prevention Project, to further understand the risk, types and mechanisms of injury in schoolboy rugby, providing epidemiological data to support the thesis.