Concussion cases requiring more than a three-month absence have increased in number, according to a report on injuries in English rugby union.

The Professional Rugby Injury Surveillance Project, jointly commissioned by the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players’ Association, reported injury data for the 2016/17 season on Monday.

It showed concussion was the most commonly reported match injury for a sixth successive year, contributing 22 per cent to the total.

The report attributed the increase of concussions requiring more than three months of absence to “a trend to more conservative management of players who have sustained two or more concussions in a 12-month period”.

For the first time, hamstring injuries and concussion appear alongside anterior cruciate ligament knee injuries in the top three match injuries resulting in an absence of 84 days or more.

For the 2016/17 Premiership campaign, there were 3.8 injuries per match and 1.9 injuries per team, on average.

The average severity of match injuries (measured by the time taken to return to play) for the same season was 32 days.