To optimise the sports science support offered to team sports players, it is important that robust field-testing methods are used to fully understand their physical fitness and how this changes across time. Further, sports scientists must also utilise wearable technology to understand the movement characteristics of players in matches. Whilst the fitness profiles and match characteristics of men’s rugby union are well established, there is little published information relating to elite women’s rugby union. Given the success and growth of the women’s game in recent years, this information is crucial for all rugby nations wishing to develop the physical characteristics of players and, subsequently, growing the game globally. In addition, this project is using advanced data analytics to evaluate the inter-relationships between women rugby players’ fitness and their match performance.
This project will establish the movement demands and match actions of elite women rugby union players, the physical and fitness characteristics of these players, and evaluate the relationships between key match performance characteristics and the players’ physical and fitness characteristics over multiple seasons. This has considerable potential implications for the progression of training practices and match preparation among women’s rugby union players and practitioners.