Concussions on the rise

London - English club rugby saw a 59 percent hike in concussions last season, according to an annual injury report.

While the report showed there to have been 54 concussions in 2012/13, last season in English club rugby there were 86, a rise of slightly more than 59 percent.

The issue of concussion has been particularly prevalent this last week after Wales wing George North was twice knocked unconscious during his team's 21-16 Six Nations defeat to England in Cardiff last Friday.

While he was treated on field the first time and then spent eight minutes being assessed off-field before being allowed to return to the fray, the second concussion was missed and the giant Northampton back carried on.

As such he has been rested for Saturday's clash with Scotland at Murrayfield pending further surveillance.

The England Professional Rugby Injury Surveillance Project Report analysed the injuries sustained at the 12 English Premiership clubs and the national team.

It analysed the English clubs' participation in European Cup matches as well as those in the domestic league and cup.

And although the figures for concussion seem alarmingly high, the report claimed that was to be expected.

"Concussion was, for the third consecutive season, the most commonly reported Premiership match injury constituting 12.5 percent of all match injuries," said the report.

"Improving concussion awareness among players, coaches, referees and medical teams and concussion management has been a major focus of the English professional game and is likely to have contributed to this continued rise in concussion reporting."

The report found that 13 percent of players suffered a concussion throughout the 2013/14 season with 10 percent suffering two. However, no-one was concussed more than twice during the season.

It wasn't all bad news on the injury front, though.

"The study reports a continued decrease in recurrent injuries as a result of effective rehabilitation, including the use of practical tools to help medical teams and coaches evaluate when a player is appropriately rehabilitated," said the audit.

"Match hamstring injuries showed a 50 percent reduction from the three previous seasons, equating to 25 injuries less per season, reflecting a focussed injury reduction effort across the clubs."

However, last season, 23 players retired prematurely due to injury.