Physiological Requirements of Elite Rugby Union Players

Physiological Requirements Requirements of Elite Rugby Union Players by David Meechan, MRes, ASCC, PSG, USAW Published October 12, 2013 http://www.sbcoachescollege.com/2013/10/physiological-requiremets-o!-elite-rugby-uioplayers-by-da"id-meecha-mresplayers-by-da"id-meecha-mres-ascc-psg-usaw ascc-psg-usaw//

#ugby $io is a high cotact, dyamic sport i  which athletes require a combiatio o! stregth, power, speed, agility, edurace ad sport-speci%c attributes &1'. #ugby $io is oe o! the most popular team sports ad is played all o"er the world. (t became a pro!essioal pro!essioal sport i 1))*. 1))*. +ith more moey at stae i the moder game, at elite le"el, a great deal o! research has bee carried out i"estigatig impro"ig the %tess o! players i order to gai a ad"atage o"er the oppositio.

 game o! rugby cosists o! two hal"es o! 0 miutes, with a maimum o! 10 miutes brea at hal! time. wo teams cotest play, each with 1* players o the %eld at oce, ecept whe a player is dismissed !or miscoduct. #ugby $io players ha"e a wide rage o! physical characteristics, which directs them to certai positios.  here are, are, geerally, two positios positios !orwards ad bacs. bacs. orwards orwards are typically typically hea"ier, taller ad ha"e a greater proportio o! body !at tha bacs &'. he !orwards demostrate demostrate superior absolute aerobic ad aaerobic power ad muscular stregth &'. he total wor o"er the duratio o! the game is less i the bacs compared with the !orwards ad !orwards sped greater time i physical cotact, while the bacs sped more time i !ree ruig, allowig them to co"er greater distaces. &14' showed that the a"erage distaces co"ered by elite le"el 5glish players was *0m ad *12m !or the tight ad loose !orwards, whilst the iside bacs co"ered 60**m ad the outside bacs 61)0m respecti"ely.  he players are umbered i terms o! o! positio, i.e. !orward !orward ad bacs ad this depeds o the physical characteristics. his assigmet will loo at a 7outside bac8 or i layma8s terms a wiger. wiger. +igers require cosiderable speed to out-maoeu"er their oppoets. hey per!orm a large amout o! support ruig, chasig dow ics ad co"erig i de!ece &'. Physical Requirements of Elite Level Rugby Union Players s outlied, rugby is geerally split ito two positioal areas !orwards ad bacs ad they di9er sigi%catly i terms o! physical characteristics. &1*' shows that, i terms o! athropometric characteristics, !orwards !orwards are geerally taller, possess greater body mass, ad are more edomorphic ad less ectomorphic tha bacs. he bacs ted to per!orm better o physical per!ormace measures tha !orwards, beig more aerobically %t, !aster ad more agile whilst possessig a higher degree o! muscular edurace.

+ith regard to positioal physiological demad, there are greater demads placed upo di9eret positios whe compared to others. ccordig to &', the !rot row has the greatest stregth ad power demads as it is their ob to gai possessio ad they are cotiuously i cotact with the oppositio ad ha"e limited chace to ru with the ball. here!ore, they are usually less mobile.  he locs are geerally tall, with a large body mass ad power, they are ow as the secod row.  he loose !orwards require stregth ad power as their purpose is to gai ad retai possessio o!  the ball. (t is a prerequisite o! the loose !orwards to be power!ul ad mobile i ope play, ha"e ecellet speed, acceleratio ad edurace &'. he hal!bacs usually eed a ecellet le"el o! edurace as they recei"e the ball !rom the !orwards ad cotrol possessio. ;peed is also a importat !actor !or the hal!bacs as they eed to out maoeu"re the oppositio ad accelerate away !rom the approachig de!eders. urthermore, mid%eld bacs require stregth, speed ad power as they ha"e a high !requecy o! cotact with the oppositio. Outside bacs require cosiderable speed to out maoeu"re their oppoets. hey per!orm a large amout o! support ruig, chasig dow ics ad co"erig i de!ece &'. s stated, physiological demads "ary with positioal demads.
( rugby uio, players accelerate o"er short distaces or accelerate ad sprit to mae positio &)'. his !orm o! spritig is ot usually per!ormed i a straight lie ad ca iclude ball carriage, chage o! directio ad the a"oidace o! a tacle. s stated, rugby uio bacs ha"e superior spritig ability compared to !orwards &'. ( a elite rugby uio match, bacs ha"e a greater amout o! space to ru ito ad there!ore achie"e greater speeds whe compared to !orwards. &4' !oud that outside bacs egaged i more sprits tha !rot row !orwards ad spet sigi%catly more time spritig ad that maimal sprit time was also sigi%catly loger. urthermore, bacs also sped two to three times more time i high-itesity ruig tha !orwards ad may be required to per!orm up to 20 sprits i oe match &4'. here!ore, the ability to per!orm repeated bouts o! maimal sprits may be bee%cial i per!ormace ehacemet o! the bacs ad repeated sprit sessios should be implemeted. ( additio, it has bee suggested by &)' that !orwards per!orm 1> o! sprits !rom a stadig start, while bacs per!ormed more !rom a stridig start. his is o! paramout importace whe i corporatig speed ito a traiig programme, as pre"ious research has show that sport speci%c speed is based upo the positioal demads o! the sport. here!ore, it may be more bee%cial !or !orwards to emphasise speed wor !rom a stadig start, while bacs should !ocus o 7?yig starts8. ;pritig should be a greater !ocus !or bacs as they sped more time spritig tha !orwards. Periodisation Periodised stregth traiig as de%ed by &10' is "aryig the traiig programme at regular time iter"als i a attempt to brig about optimal gais i stregth, power, motor per!ormace, ad/or muscle hypertrophy. ccordig to the @;A Positio stad, resistace programs !or athletic per!ormace should be periodised i order to optimise the adaptatios o"er log-term traiig ad also help reduce the potetial o! the athlete eterig the o"ertraiig phase. (t is well accepted that i order to maimiBe the bee%ts o! resistace traiig, periodisatio is superior to other traiig methods !or the de"elopmet o! stregth ad power sports &10'. (t is show that i order to ha"e the maimal bee%ts o! resistace traiig, periodisatio is better that o-periodisatio !or the de"elopmet o! stregth ad power sports. ( additio other studies such as &1' ad &20' showed that utilisig periodised traiig methods ha"e also demostrated superior results whe compared to lower "olume protocols. urthermore &13' showed that short ad log term adaptatios i stregth, power ad muscle edurace are greater with a periodised multiple set traiig program.  o de"elop power, it is suggested that the !ollowig cycle may be bee%cial. ;tregth 5durace-;tregth-Power ad ;peed.  he ;tregth edurace phase is where the sport speci%c %tess is de"eloped. he primary goal o! this stage is to icrease lea body mass ad edurace base. his phase !ocuses o high "olume eercise, at a relati"ely reduced itesity as ot to iduce o"ertraiig.

o! 1#= with rests betwee 2-* miutes. ( additio, &*' suggests that maimal stregth ca be co"erted to power i a relati"ely short time.  here!ore, upo coclusio o! the stregth phase, traiig shi!ts to a power phase i order to prepare the athlete !or competitio as the stregth base is already established. s pre"iously stated, power is essetial i rugby as it is essetial to dri"e oppoets bac. Power de"elopmet comprises producig a large !orce at a high rate o! speed, ad ca be di"ided ito two areas o! mo"emet. irstly, speed stregth is where importace is o speed o! mo"emet agaist a relati"ely small resistace.  ey eample o! this is i plyometric traiig i.e. boudig or couter mo"emet umps &A=C'. ;ecodly, Olympic li!ts such as the power clea are also primary eercises used i power de"elopmet. he power clea is a dyamic li!t desiged to icrease power productio &11'. his is typically a !udametal eercise i high per!ormace stregth ad coditioig e"iromet such as elite rugby. &12' states that Olympic li!ts are the most commoly recommeded eercises i power ad speed programs. urthermore, athletes traied i Olympic style li!tig techiques ha"e a etremely high capacity to de"elop power, which is ecessary !or success i sport. he power phase is, thus, desiged to optimise the gais i stregth the athlete has made durig the maimal stregth phase. Conclusion  he importace o! stregth ad power i high itesity collisio sports such as rugby uio is paramout !or athletes per!ormig at the elite le"el. here!ore, resistace traiig plays a !udametal role i athletic de"elopmet ad is ecessary !or the demads o! the game. rom the literature preseted, elite rugby players ecompass "arious eceptioal %tess requiremets.
11. leschler, P, &2002' O"er"iew o! power traiig. National Strength and Conditioning Association Performance Training Journal 1&6': -11. 12. Earhammer, C.E. &1)*'. Iiomechaical pro%les o! Olympic weight li!ters. 'nternational Journal of S%ort (iomechanics. 1:122-130 13. Draemer, +.C. &1))4',  series o! studies-he physiological basis !or stregth traiig i merica !ootball: act o"er philosophy. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 11&3': 131-12 1. 1. Dreider, # I., ry,  A., O8oole, = G., &1))' O"ertraiig i ;port. #uman $inetics 1*. Luarrie, D G.,