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Field testing is a key component to measure player performance in all sports, which provides coaches and strength and conditioning staff information to evaluate player performance and measure desired training effects. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and construct validity of a rugby union field test protocol based on analysis of the components of the game. Participants were placed in an Academy (n = 17) or Club (n = 11) group determined by current playing level. Trials of 10- and 30-m linear speed (LS), change of direction speed, and reactive agility speed were measured to evaluate the field test protocol's utility in distinguishing players of different playing abilities. Reliability analysis of each field test demonstrated stable values allowing this field test protocol to be used to compare between groups. Furthermore, the Academy players performed significantly (p < 0.05) faster compared to Club players in all LS and agility components. These results suggest that this field test protocol is appropriate to identify rugby union players of varying playing abilities allowing coaches and strength and fitness staff to measure a player's capability to execute critical aspects of the game and may have application in performance evaluation and talent identification. The results from this study suggest that this test battery is an appropriate measure in identifying the varying playing abilities of rugby union players. This enables coaches and fitness staff to assess a player's capability in executing critical aspects of the game and also may have application in performance evaluation and talent identification.

Rugby union is a dynamic running game requiring players to regularly perform change of direction maneuvers to avoid player opposition. The change of direction/cutting task is characterized by rapid deceleration onto the plant leg (PL) then reacceleration by the push-off leg (POL) into the new direction. Identification of the kinematic characteristics of cutting tasks and their relationship to playing ability may offer practical guidelines for coaches and strength and conditioning staff to design effective agility drills and provide player feedback to improve technique. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the kinematic and temporal characteristics of cutting tasks and their relationship to performance in rugby union players. Semiprofessional rugby union players from the All-Ireland League were placed in a Starters (N = 13) or Nonstarters (N = 10) group based on whether they were routinely selected in the starting team or were reserve 'bench' players. Each participant was fitted with reflective markers and performed 10 cutting trials (5 left, 5 right) of a single 45° cutting task to collect relevant kinematic data. The directions of the cutting trials were classified as a dominant or nondominant cut based on the participant's dominant leg. All trials were then analyzed to determine the timings, angular displacements, and velocities during key events of the PL and POL in the cutting task. The total time to complete the cutting task was not statistically significant between groups; however, Starters demonstrated significantly shorter contact time of the PL during dominant cuts and initiated knee extension of the POL faster than Nonstarters in dominant and nondominant cuts. This preliminary study demonstrates that components of the cutting task differed between groups and may provide an insight for strength and conditioning professionals to assess change of direction technique.

Elite rugby union teams currently employ the latest technology to monitor and evaluate the physical demands of training and games on their players. Tackling has been shown to be the most common cause of injury in rugby union, yet current player monitoring technology does not effectively evaluate player tackling measurements. Currently, to evaluate measurements specific to player tackles, a time-consuming manual analysis of player sensor data and video footage is required. The purpose of this work is to investigate tackle modeling techniques which can be utilised to automatically detect player tackles and collisions using sensing technology already being used by elite international and club level rugby union teams. This paper discusses issues relevant to automatic tackle analysis, describes a technique to detect tackles using sensing data and validates the technique by comparing automatically detected collisions to manually labeled collisions using data from elite club and international level players. The results of the validation show that the system is able to consistently identify collisions with very few false positives and false negatives, achieving a recall and precision rating of 0.933 and 0.958, respectively. The aim is that the automatically detected tackles can provide coaching, medical and strength and conditioning staff with objective tackle-specific measurements, in real time, which can be used in injury prevention and rehabilitation strategies.