The growth of the sport and the physical nature of the game lend itself to sporting injuries.

Knowing this, several commercial companies are involved in the design and production of a wide variety of protective equipment and clothing specific to rugby. Most of these items are widely available in local sports stores.

Despite the commercial claims of many of these manufacturers much controversy remains regarding the effectiveness of protective equipment. With numerous scientific studies on this topic, there is very little scientific evidence supporting the claims of many of the products commercially available.

In this section, BokSmart provides practical guidelines regarding the most effective forms of protective equipment in rugby union such as head gear, mouth guards, shoulder pads, compression garments, and also provides the scientific evidence that supports or negates their effectiveness in preventing injury.