Notational analysis of evasive agility skills executed by attacking ball carriers among elite rugby players of the 2015 Rugby World Cup

Abstract

The role of skill in task execution among elite rugby players has become the focus of numerous researchers. We aimed to analyse the frequency, the most highly utilized and successful as well as unsuccessful attempts of evasive agility skills executed by attacking ball carriers among elite rugby players. The analysis was based on 32 matches played during the 2015 Rugby World Cup matches with the sample being attacking ball carriers among the Top 3 and Bottom 3 Elite Rugby Teams. It was shown that attacking ball carriers among the Top 3 displayed a 59% (straight), 39% (side-step) and 2% (crossover-step) while the Bottom 3 exhibited a 45% (straight), 52% (side-step) and 3% (crossover-step) of these movement patterns. Alternatively, the independent sample t-test revealed that there was no significant difference in the frequency of the execution of the side-step and crossover-step (p>0.05) between the two team categories while a significant difference was observed for these teams for the straight evasive agility skill (p=0.012). The straight evasive agility skill was the most frequently executed and highly utilized by the Top 3 though portraying a high rate of being unsuccessful (29% successful rate).Conversely, the side-step evasive movement pattern was the most frequently executed and highly utilized by the Bottom 3 (21% successful rate).These results suggest that the successful rate of the evasive agility skills executed may not be the determining factor among elite rugby players and the reasons underlying this observation may need further clarification.