The Community Rugby Injury Surveillance Project (CRISP) is a national programme funded by the Rugby Football Union on behalf of Community Rugby as part of a commitment to reduce injuries within rugby.

The Project is co-ordinated by members of the Sport, Health & Exercise Science Research Group in the Department for Health.

To understand more about the causes of injury and how to reduce injuries it is important that a programme of injury surveillance is established for Community rugby. Obtaining more information on the number, type and causes of match-play injuries will allow for more effective strategies to deal with prevention and rehabilitation.

This project will establish a programme to collect information about the incidence, type and severity of injuries which occur during match play over various playing levels below the Aviva Premiership and the Green King IPA Championship in English club rugby (RFU levels 3-9).

For season 2015-16, Hartlepool RFC have signed up to incorporate a set of injury prevention exercises into their warm-ups and help to establish whether these can reduce match play injuries.

HRFC will benefit from:

Mid and final season reports for match injuries, compared with other clubs.
Structured warm-up practices with the potential to reduce injuries.
Contributing to our understanding of injury patterns and prevention in English Community rugby.
Membership to the World Rugby Science Network, providing the latest advances in rugby science.

What is required from HRFC over the 2015-16 season:

Begin each training session and match warm-up with a 10-15 minute set of exercises prescribed by the CRISP team before moving into your own drills.
Details on any 1st XV match injuries causing the player to miss one match or more.
A list of players involved in each 1st XV match.
Brief details on age, weight and height for 1st team squad players.