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The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in agility performance with natural turf (NT) and artificial turf (AT) surface in rugby union players on the repeated sprint, cut and turn movements and if any differences exist between holding the ball or not in relation to agility performance. Twelve tertiary rugby union players (mean ± SD age, 21.2 ± 2.0 years) participated in the study. Players underwent measurements of anthropometry (height, body mass). Running tests investigated were 40-meter sprinting, change of direction, and "L" run, with all tests for agility measured in two sets with ball and without ball respectively. Results indicated that subjects showed significantly better overall agility performance (P < 0.05) in sprinting (NT: 6.40 ± 0.26 seconds, AT: 6.24 ± 0.26 seconds) and turning (NT: 6.40 ± 0.44 seconds, AT: 5.96 ± 0.38 seconds) on AT than NT. Although the time counted of cutting on AT was faster than on NT (NT: 13.85 ± 0.61 seconds, AT: 13.55 ± 0.68 seconds), the result was not significant. The findings also indicated that running with the ball for 40 meters would not slow the players down as there was a counter effect on the ground surface and ball carrying, while the turning movement was affected by both effects.

By adopting Sport Education into the university context, this study examined how lesson content and teacher interaction contribute to university students’ physical activity levels during physical education lessons. Following a continuing professional development workshop, a 10-week Sport Education season was designed collaboratively and implemented at a university, taking into account the university’s facilities. This study used the momentary time sampling tool, System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time, in which eight teachers and 202 students (72% male) were videotaped in 156 lessons. The data on physical activity levels, lesson content, and teacher behavior were collected and analyzed. The student-participants engaged in an average of 38.77 (±18.78) moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) minutes which did not meet the recommendation of 50% lesson time. Findings of hierarchical linear regression indicated that knowledge (β = 0.29) and general content (β = 0.29) contributed to the sitting physical activity while skill practices (β = 0.25) and gameplay (β = 0.38) predicted the MVPA. Practical implications of utilizing the features of Sport Education in boosting the intensity of activities are discussed, especially team affiliation, formal competition, and record keeping. Further investigations are proposed on the interaction of gameplay content and teacher behavior with larger sample size.

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