Abstract
BackgroundPerformance analysis in rugby union has become an integral part of the coaching process. Although performance analysis research in rugby and data collection has progressed, the utility of the insights is not well understood. The primary objective of this review is to consider the current state of performance analysis research in professional rugby union and consider the utility of common methods of analysing performance and the applicability of these methods within professional coaching practice.MethodsSPORTDiscus electronic database was searched for relevant articles published between 1 January 1997 and 7 March 2019. Professional, male 15-a-side rugby union studies that included relevant data on tactical and performance evaluation, and statistical compilation of time-motion analysis were included. Studies were categorised based on the main focus and each study was reviewed by assessing a number of factors such as context, opposition analysis, competition and sample size.ResultsForty-one studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of these studies measured performance through the collection and analysis of performance indicators. The majority did not provide context relating to multiple confounding factors such as field location, match location and opposition information. Twenty-nine performance indicators differentiated between successful match outcomes; however, only eight were commonly shared across some studies. Five studies considered rugby union as a dynamical system; however, these studies were limited in analysing lower or national-level competitions.ConclusionsThe review highlighted the issues associated with assessing isolated measures of performance, lacking contextual information such as the opposition, match location, period within match and field location. A small number of studies have assessed rugby union performance through a dynamical systems lens, identifying successful characteristics in collective behaviour patterns in attacking phases. Performance analysis in international rugby union can be advanced by adopting these approaches in addition to methods currently adopted in other team sports.
Highlights
Performance analysis in rugby union has become an integral part of the coaching process
The review highlighted the issues associated with assessing isolated measures of performance, lacking contextual information such as the opposition, match location, period within match and field location
The SPORTDiscus electronic database was searched on 8 March 2019 for relevant articles published between 1 January 1997 and 7 March 2019 using the following search terms: Rugby AND “collective behav*” OR “tactic* analysis” OR “tactic* performance” OR “tactical indicator*” OR “performance indicator*” OR “performance analysis” OR “notational analysis” OR “game analysis” OR “observational analysis” OR “Pattern* of play” OR “dynamic* system” OR “tactic* behave*” OR “neural network” OR “system* think*” OR “performance model*” OR “player selection” OR “player evaluation” OR “game statistics”
Summary
Performance analysis in rugby union has become an integral part of the coaching process. Performance analysis in team sports allows coaches to objectively assess the performance of the team while identifying their oppositions’ strengths and weaknesses, and opportunities to exploit these in competition To do this effectively requires a comprehensive analysis of individual and collective actions, to provide objective summaries of game activities during competition [1]. Behaviours are typically recorded through annotation software; advancements in video capture technologies are allowing player position information to be analysed with associated behaviours to provide a more meaningful understanding of game behaviours. This development has contributed considerably to our understanding the performance requirements in elite-level competition. This type of research assumes human behaviour is causal, measurable and predictable
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