I wore shoulder pads on and off throughout my amateur playing career. When they first came into fashion in the late 1990s following professionalism I remember admiring myself in the mirror with my first set of Optimum shoulder pads on. Looking back it was more vanity than practicality, but what’s the situation nowadays?
Do rugby players wear shoulder pads nowadays?
According to a 2020 survey of 660 rugby players by Sheffield University, 66.1% of Rugby players had worn shoulder pads at some point. Furthermore, nine of England’s starting fifteen in the 2022 Calcutta Cup match with Scotland wore shoulder pads. Notably, forwards wore them more than backs and none of the wingers on either side wore shoulder pads.
Do shoulder pads help in rugby?
There is no conclusive research showing that shoulder pads reduce injury rates in rugby, however, a survey of over 661 rugby players conducted by Sheffield University found that 45.5% of players wore shoulder pads in the belief that they prevented injury.
Further details of how players believe shoulder pads help them in rugby are shown below:
| Beliefs regarding shoulder pads | Percentage % |
| Shoulder padding is effective at preventing cuts and abrasions | 37.1% |
| Shoulder pads are effective at preventing contusion injury | 50.3% |
| I wear shoulder padding for injury prevention | 45.5% |
| I wear shoulder padding to protect from reoccurring injury | 19.2% |
| I feel wearing shoulder pads is unnecessary | 38.6% |
As you can see, there is widespread approval from players that shoulder pads do help in rugby but at the time of writing there is still no conclusive research quantifying any reduction in injury levels through the wearing of shoulder pads.
World Rugby has come out and stated that shoulder pads that meet the legal requirements for the game are actually only meant to protect from cuts and abrasions which seems a bit pointless to me and certainly not what most people would assume they are for.
“The only injuries that body padding compliant with this specification are intended to protect against are cuts and abrasions.“
World Rugby
Personally, I originally began wearing shoulder pads primarily because it was the trend at the time and there was some curiosity surrounding it but over the course of a season I soon stopped wearing them.
I stopped wearing them mainly as a centre at the time my game focused more on speed and agility and I felt they did nothing for this part of my game. Furthermore, I actually wanted to feel the contact with my shoulders so that I could properly gauge how hard or well I had connected with someone.
Incidentally, the scrum-half in our team wore shoulder pads consistently and it did not stop him from dislocating his shoulder three times in quick succession. I would hazard a guess that shoulder pads do very little to aid in shoulder joint contusions and dislocations, more’s the pity.
On a personal note, I snapped all three of the main tendons in my left shoulder whilst making a tackle about three years ago. I was not wearing shoulder pads and don’t believe they would have prevented my injury.
I had my left arm outstretched to my left and was diving to make a waist height tackle. I grabbed the players shorts and my shoulder was hit powerfully and my arm wrenched outwards at the same time.
I heard what sounded like a gunshot which was in fact the ligaments snapping. It was the wrenching that seemed to do it and the impact was to the front of the shoulder and arm which would have been below any shoulder pads anyway.
As a result, I couldn’t move my arm, it just dangled down by my side. However, with no other forwards on the bench (I was playing second row on that day) I played the rest of the game. I figured that as there was no pain then it couldn’t be that bad – how wrong could I be!
Anyway, a very expensive shoulder operation which I fortunately managed to get on private insurance and months of physio later I was able to play again – despite being told that that would not be possible.
Apologies, I digress, rugby shoulder pads only offer a psychological value in my opinion, especially at amateur level where the hits are nothing like as big as in the premiership, or on television.
Moral of the story though, get insurance for playing rugby. The scrum-half I mentioned earlier had none and he lost out considerably as he was unable to work with his shoulder issues. Read about rugby player insurance in the UK here.
I always found the optimum range of shoulder pads to be the best fitting and stylish too, check out there latest here:
You might also want to read: Rugby Shin Guards: Who Wears Them And Why?
What are rugby shoulder pads made of?
World Rugby the sport’s governing body dictate that shoulder pads are made of a soft material that does not cause abrasion to either the wearer or an opponent, for instance EVA foam. Shoulder pads can be up to 10mm thick when uncompressed and can only cover shoulder and collarbone joints.
EVA foam padding is one of the current favourites of foam paddings and is a combination of Ethylene and Vinyl Acetate. The result is a soft yet elastic rubber type of foam which is used across a variety of contact sports.
World Rugby also stipulate that the density of the material cannot exceed 45 kg per cubic metre. The simplest thing to do is to purchase your shoulder pads from a recognised rugby brand that will be adhering to the guidelines.
All of the shoulder pads found here meet the requirements, there is a great choice of shoulder pads these days!
Referees can and do check that padding worn by players does meet the required standards by looking for the RFU approved kite mark. Players can be asked to not take the field or to leave the field should they be wearing padding that does not meet the criteria.
Be warned also that you should not be adding further padding underneath shoulder pads through the use of rugby tape and any extra material of your own. This can cause the depth of the total padding to exceed the allowed 10 mm.
You might also be interested in: Rugby Gloves: FAQs, Rules, Legality And Benefits
What are the best shoulder pads for rugby?
The best shoulder pads for rugby are ones that fit correctly and adhere to World Rugby requirements. Typically, any recognised rugby brand will have produced shoulder pads that meet the requirements, brands include: Optimum, Canterbury, Gilbert and Rhino.
The best shoulder pads feature:
- Lightweight compression fabric to help improve circulation
- Second skin feel to allow complete freedom of movement
- Fast moisture wicking to prevent players getting chilled.
- Multiple panels (Choose from shoulders, bicep, sternum and back)
- Full shirt length is preferable to prevent riding up on shorter length padding.
You can find shoulder pads that the preofessionals use here, but, always remember, improving tackle technique will prevent far more injuries than any type of shoulder pad ever will!
At this point you might also want to read: Do Rugby Players Wear Helmets?
Image Credits
Clément Bucco-Lechat, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
