Category Ranking
98%
Total Visits
921
Avg Visit Duration
2 minutes
Citations
20
Article Abstract
Background: Professional rugby union is a high-intensity contact sport with position-specific high training and match volumes across a season that may lead to periods of fatigue if above a typically experienced threshold. This study assesses the influence of match play and/or training on fatigue levels in rugby union players.
Objective: We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of measures used to assess fatigue status in male professional rugby union players.
Methods: Using electronic databases (PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and MEDLINE), a systematic review of fatigue testing in rugby union was conducted on (1) neuromuscular, (2) subjective self-report, (3) biochemical, and (4) heart rate-derived measures.
Results: Thirty-seven articles were included in this systematic review, of which 14 were further included in a meta-analysis. The results of the meta-analysis revealed small, yet not significant, decreases in countermovement jump height immediately after (effect size [ES] = - 0.29; 95% confidence interval [CI] - 0.64 to 0.06), 24 h (ES = - 0.43; 95% CI - 3.99 to 3.21), and 48 h (ES = - 0.22; 95% CI - 0.47 to 0.02) after exposure to rugby union match play or training. Reported wellness (ES = - 0.33; 95% CI - 1.70 to 1.04) and tiredness (ES = - 0.14; 95% CI - 1.30 to 1.03) declined over a period of a few weeks (however, the results were not-statistically significant), meanwhile muscle soreness increased (ES = 0.91; 95% CI 0.06 to 1.75) within the 96 h after the exposure to rugby union match play or training. Finally, while cortisol levels (ES = 1.87; 95% CI - 1.54 to 5.29) increased, testosterone declined (ES = - 1.54; 95% CI - 7.16 to 4.08) within the 24 h after the exposure. However, these results were not statistically significant.
Conclusions: Subjective measures of muscle soreness can be used to assess fatigue after match play and training in rugby union players. Within-study and between-study variability for countermovement jump height, biochemical markers, and heart rate-derived measures means the utility (practical application) of these measures to assess fatigue in professional rugby union players after matches and training is unclear.
Clinical Trial Registration: PROSPERO ID: CRD42020216706.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40279-023-01973-3 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Match and Training Injuries Sustained by Professional Male Rugby Union Players in Scotland.
Int J Sports Med
September 2025
Institute for Sport, PE and Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Sports Medicine Research Network, Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Rugby union ('rugby') is a full-contact sport, with previous studies across the globe reporting a high incidence of injury. However, no injury surveillance study of professional male players in Scotland exists in contemporary literature. The current study therefore aimed to describe the incidence, severity, burden and nature of match and training injuries sustained by male professional club rugby players in Scotland.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTraining load and injury surveillance in Leinster SChoolboy RUgby players: the SCRUm cohort study.
BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med
August 2025
School of Physiotherapy, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland.
Objectives: To describe training loads and injury incidences, and explore their relationship in senior schoolboy rugby players in Leinster, Ireland.
Methods: Prospective cohort study conducted during the 2019-2020 season. Methods aligned with consensus statements for rugby injury surveillance research.
Neurodegenerative Diseases in Male Former First-Class New Zealand Rugby Players.
Sports Med
September 2025
Centre of Methods and Policy Application in the Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Education, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Background: Growing concern surrounds the risk of neurodegenerative diseases in high-level collision sports, but research on Rugby Union's connection to these diseases is limited.
Objective: This study sought to examine the long-term neurodegenerative disease risk associated with participation in high-level Rugby Union ('rugby'), utilising whole-population administrative records.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study in New Zealand compared males born between 1920 and 1984 who were active in high-level (provincial or higher) rugby between 1950 and 2000 (n = 12,861) with males from the general population (n = 2,394,300), matched by age, ethnicity, and birthplace.
Heavy Hitters, Light Sleepers: Collision Frequency and Locomotor Load on Sleep Architecture in Professional Rugby Union Players.
Eur J Sport Sci
September 2025
School of Human Sciences (Exercise and Sport Science), The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
To assess whether certain players are more vulnerable to postmatch sleep disturbances by examining the relationship between match demands-collision frequency and locomotor load-and sleep in professional male rugby union players. A linear mixed-effects regression examined the relationship between match variables and sleep in 13 rugby players across three matches. Match variables included six physical demand variables derived from video analysis and GPS data (collision frequency, total distance, high-speed distance, sprint distance, acceleration load and fast acceleration count) and two contextual variables (location and kick-off time).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnalysis of Positional Physical Demands in Tier 2 Rugby Union: A Multivariate Approach over Speed Ranges.
Sports (Basel)
August 2025
Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte (INEF-Departamento de Deportes), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, C/Martín Fierro, 7, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Rugby union involves intermittent high- and low-intensity activities, making it essential for strength and conditioning practitioners to understand specific physical demands. While GPS technology has enhanced this understanding, limited research focuses on Tier 2 national teams. This study aimed to describe the speed-related physical demands of a Tier 2 national rugby union team.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF