The locomotive requirements during Rugby Union competition: A review of the literature

Brad Mayo,

1,2

Peter Maulder,

1

and Shaun Paterson

1 1

School of Sport & Exercise Science, Wintec, Hamilton, New Zealand

2

Waikato Rugby Union, New Zealand BACKGROUND

•In order to produce a specific strength and conditioning programme for Rugby Union athletes, practitioners need to recognise the specific physiological, locomotive and kinematic requirements of Rugby Union competition. To quantify the match demands of Rugby Union competition, video based time-motion analysis (TMA) and more recently global positioning systems (GPS) have been utilised by researchers.

Table 1: The locomotive requirements during Rugby Union competition Author Participants Analytical device Total distance (m)

FR: 4,400

Deutsch et al. (1998)

24 Amateur players

TMA IB: 5,530

Aim

The purpose of the review was to identify the locomotive requirements during Rugby Union competition

Max Speed (km/h) Metres per minute (m-min)

FR: 63 IB: 79 F: 30.6

Duthie et al. (2006)

28 Franchise players TMA B: 33.9

F: 5,581 F: 70

Roberts et al. (2008)

5 Franchise games

TMA B: 6,127 F: 6,680 B: 76 F: 68

Cunniffe et al. (2009)

2 Franchise players

GPS F: 26.3

B: 7,227 FR: 5,139 B: 28.7

B: 72 FR: 64

Austin et al. (2011)

20 Franchise players TMA IB: 6,389 F: 4,469 IB: 80 F: 64

Venter et al. (2011)

17 Amateur players

GPS F: 23.0

B: 4,597 B: 33.1 B: 66

Higham et al. (2012) Cahill et al. (2013)

19 International sevens players

98 Franchise players GPS GPS Int : 1,694 Dom : 1,680 F: 5,850 B: 6,545 Int: 30.6

Dom: 29.2

F: 26.3

B: 30.4

Int: 121 Dom: 120 F: 65 B: 71 GPS = Global positioning system , TMA = Time motion analysis, F = Forward, B = Back , FR = Front row, IB = Inside back , Int = International matches, Dom = Domestic matches

Total distance covered during match play

•Provides a complete measure of total work load during the game.

•The frequency and duration of moderate and high intensity running distances accurately describe the game requirements.

•Reported to range between 4,400m and 7,227m (see Table 1).

•An appreciation of volume represented by total distance covered provides an understanding of the required recovery modalities between trainings and games.

Maximum running speed during match play

•It has been shown that running speed over varying distances is fundamental to success at all levels of competition.

•Maximum running speed has been reported to range between 22 km/h and 34 km/h during competition (see Table 1).

•These findings have implications for coaches and practitioners specifically when attempting to provide game and position specific speed training programs.

Metres covered per minute of elapsed match play

•Metres per minute (m-min) is an expression of work rate during competition.

•This measure takes into account game length and total distance covered.

•This measure gives an indication of what maximum values of locomotor activities players experience during match play.

•M-min has been reported to range between 62 m-min and 120 m-min in Rugby Union competition (see Table 1).

•Practitioners can recognise intensity during competition and replicate it during the training environment.

Future research considerations

•Investigate match requirements utilising GPS between levels of competition such as Club rugby, ITM Cup, Super Rugby and International Rugby.

•Investigate variables such as number of high intensity efforts > 15 km/h, high intensity efforts per minute, number of sprints > 20 km/h and sprints per minute.

•Expression of assessment speed relative to match speed may provide added benefit.

CONCLUSIONS

•Match requirements of Rugby Union competition provide coaches and practitioners with quantifiable measures to justify prescription of training.

•Previous research reveals that professional athletes have greater locomotive requirements when compared with their semi professional counterparts.

•Such information is important as it could aid in player progression from semi-professional to professional level.

•There is a need for ongoing analysis of developmental pathways to adequately prepare players for the demands of professional competition.

Practical take home message

The comparison of semi-professional and professional rugby competitions is important to aid player progression and implement training programs based around the locomotive requirements of match play

Acknowledgements

•Waikato Rugby Union & Wintec