Topendsports: Sports, Fitness, Nutrition and Science
 Home   Sports   Fitness   Nutrition   Testing   Medicine   Psychology   Biomechanics   Events   Coaching   Resources   Marketing   Clipart   Humor 
 Rugby union home | Fitness testing | Equipment | Store | Tournaments | World Cup | Clipart | Humor
 

Rugby Union

Sports > Rugby Union > Fitness > Testing

Fitness Tests for Rugby

As with most football codes, rugby requires a very good levels of skill, speed, agility and endurance (see Rugby Fitness). Therefore, there are many components of fitness that are important for success. The importance of each component of fitness will depend on the playing position, where the strength is important for the props, and speed for the backs. You should also compare these recommendations to the fitness tests and norms for the Springboks in 2007.

Fitness Component

Example Tests

Comments

Aerobic Fitness

  • The shuttle run (beep) test is very good for testing the aerobic fitness of a whole team at once. There has also been developed a Rugby specific test (the J.A.M. test) that is based on the intensity of the game.
  • You can find information on many other aerobic tests here.

Aerobic fitness is a very important component of fitness for rugby. 

Flexibility

Good hamstring flexibility is import for rugby players in running and for ball kicking skill. 

Strength and Power

Strength (and power tests) should also be done to determine strength levels and to monitor strength changes in conjunction with training programs. 

Speed

Maximum running speed and acceleration are very important in rugby. 

Body Fat

  • Body fat can be measured using the skinfold method. If this is not available, monitoring body weight changes would give an indication of body fat changes, assuming no change in muscle mass.

Excess body fat would affect the player's ability to move freely around the field, and the extra weight will increase fatigue during the game. 

Agility

  • An agility test in which the player has to make a turn of less than 45 degrees would be suitable, as no turns greater than this are made at speed during a game. See about Agility testing.

The ability to quickly change direction is very important to evade the defence and make a break in rugby. 

Related Pages