Comparative characteristics of elite New Zealand and South African u/16 rugby players with reference to gamespecific skills, physical abilities and anthropometric data

Spamer, EJ

doi:10.17159/2078-516x/2009/v21i2a298

Cited by 9 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Although such studies provide data which has implications on identifying key characteristics in rugby, the main limitation of such studies is that between-group differences may reflect the possible influence of age, growth and biological maturation. Spamer et al 11 compared characteristics of U16 rugby players from New Zealand (NZ, higher level) and South African (SA, lower level). Such age-specific comparisons are more likely to provide highly relevant information on the attributes important for rugby at the specified age category with little or no possible influence of age or maturity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although there are numerous studies documenting the characteristics of male adolescents playing U13 to U19 competitive rugby,6–13 no such studies have been conducted for Zimbabwean school-based adolescent male rugby players. Therefore, there is limited understanding of the qualities of Zimbabwean U16 rugby players playing competitive rugby and how they differ by playing standards.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anthropometric, physiological characteristics and rugby-specific game skills discriminating Zimbabwean under-16 male adolescent rugby players by level of competition

Chiwaridzo

Ferguson

Smits-Engelsman

2019

BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med

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ObjectivesDespite growing popularity of adolescent rugby in Zimbabwean schools, little is known about qualities or skills of schoolboy rugby players and how they differ by competitive level. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to identify anthropometric, physiological characteristics and rugby-specific game skills capable of discriminating under-16 (U16) RU players across three proficiency levels.MethodsFollowing development of School Clinical Rugby Measure test battery, elite rugby players (n=41), subelite rugby players (n=30) and non-rugby players (n=29) were enrolled and tested for height, sitting height, body mass, skinfolds, speed, agility, upper and lower muscular strength and power, prolonged high-intensity intermittent running ability, tackling, passing and catching in a cross-sectional study.ResultsElite rugby players displayed significantly better scores for all physiological tests and game skills compared with either subelite or non-rugby players, except for Sit-and-Reach, 20 m speed and L-run tests. However, only vertical jump (VJ) and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (Yo-Yo IRT L1) significantly improved with increasing competitive level. In addition, elite rugby players showed significantly better scores for tackling (p<0.001) and catching (p<0.001) compared with subelites. No statistical differences were observed across competitive levels for height (p=0.43), sum of seven skinfolds (p=0.26) and passing (p=0.27).ConclusionSince VJ and Yo-Yo IRT L1 improved with increasing playing standard, these findings possibly highlight physiological attributes important in elite schoolboy rugby in Zimbabwe. Additionally, development and training of tackling and catching skills in U16 schoolboy rugby is important since they are linked to higher playing standard.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropometric, physiological characteristics and rugby-specific game skills discriminating Zimbabwean under-16 male adolescent rugby players by level of competition

Chiwaridzo

Ferguson

Smits-Engelsman

2019

BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med

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“…However, literature adopting a positivist approach towards elite athlete development has highlighted the intrusive surveillance mechanisms deployed to identify and analyse performance. Comparative studies of elite youth rugby (Plotz and Spamer 2006;Spamer 2000;Spamer and Winsley 2003) and elite youth football (Reilly et al 2000;Wong et al 2009) have identified the anthropometrical, physical and motor variables required to become successful athletes. Moreover, the use of molecular biology techniques have been employed to recognise specific genetic traits that have evident links with physiological, anatomical and biochemical indicators of elite athletic performance (Calò and Vona 2008).…”

Section: Academy Institutions and The Elite Sport Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disciplinary Power, the Oligopticon and Rhizomatic Surveillance in Elite Sports Academies

Manley

Palmer

Roderick

2012

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This article aims to apply a post-panoptic view of surveillance within the context of elite sport. Latour's (2005) 'oligopticon ' and Deleuze and Guttari's (2003) 'rhizomatic' notion of surveillance networks are adopted to question the relevance and significance of Foucault's (1979) conceptualisation of surveillance within an elite sports academy setting. A contemporary representation of bio-politics (Rose 1999(Rose , 2001) is further utilised to discern the mode of governance and control effective within such institutions. In so doing, this article seeks to understand the evolving methods of surveillance technology and governance and how they are situated within the setting of a contemporary institution. Such considerations aim to provoke a line of questioning surrounding the normalisation of intrusive surveillance practices and their impact upon identity construction and an authentic sense of self.

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“…Previous studies investigating the influence of playing standard on RU players attributes have established that anthropometric, physiological characteristics and game skills improve with increasing playing standards [12][13][14][15][16]. Body mass was greater in elite U16 RU athletes from a country known to have higher rugby playing standards compared to elite U16 players derived from a country known to have relatively lesser rugby standards [16]. Jones et al, [12] showed that upper-body muscular strength, 40-m speed, and aerobic fitness contribute to higher playing standard of U18 academy players when compared to lower-level U18 schoolboy rugby players.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Jones et al, [12] showed that upper-body muscular strength, 40-m speed, and aerobic fitness contribute to higher playing standard of U18 academy players when compared to lower-level U18 schoolboy rugby players. However, conflicting results have been reported for sum of skinfold thickness measurements [16][17][18][19][20]. In related intermittent sports, lower-body muscular power and agility discriminated U16 elite from sub-elite soccer players [21], whilst elite U16 rugby league (RL) players had better speed, agility, and aerobic capacity compared to sub-elite players [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropometric, physiological characteristics and rugby-specific game skills of schoolboy players of different age categories and playing standards

Chiwaridzo

Ferguson

Smits-Engelsman

2020

BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil

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Background: Rugby is increasingly gaining popularity among school-aged male junior players in countries hardly known for dominating international rugby, such as Zimbabwe. Given rugby combativeness, participating adolescents should possess qualities or skills commensurate with the physical demands of the sport for effective participation. This study investigated the independent and interactive effects of age category and playing standard on anthropometric, physiological characteristics and rugby-specific game skills among Zimbabwean athletes. Methods: Two hundred and eight elite, sub-elite and non-rugby players competing at Under 16 and Under 19 age categories were assessed using the School Clinical Rugby Measure (SCRuM) test battery. Participants underwent height, sitting height, mass, skinfolds, speed, agility, upper-and-lower muscular strength and power, prolonged high-intensity intermittent running ability, tackling, passing and catching assessments in a cross-sectional experimental design. Results: Age categories had significant main effect on all SCRuM test items except sum of seven skinfolds (p = 0.45, η 2 p = 0.003). Playing standard had significant main effects for all variables except height (p = 0.40, η 2 p = 0.01) and sum of seven skinfolds (p = 0.11, η 2 p = 0.02). Specifically, upper-and-lower muscular strength and power, prolonged high-intensity intermittent running ability, tackling, passing and catching improved with increasing playing standards. However, two-way analysis of variance only demonstrated significant interactions between the effects of age category and playing standards for vertical jump height (VJ) test, 2-kg medicine ball chest throw (2-kg MBCT) test, Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (Yo-Yo IRT L1), and tackling and catching tests. Yo-Yo IRT L1, VJ, tackling and catching tests demonstrated greater discriminative ability among Under 16 s, whereas the 2-kg MBCT test showed better ability in Under 19 s. Conclusion: All SCRuM variables except skinfolds improved with age, highlighting relative sensitivity in differentiating older from younger athletes. However, the discriminative ability by playing standards for VJ, 2-kg MBCT, Yo-Yo IRT L1, tackling and catching ability tests was age-dependent. These findings informs on general attribute development in junior rugby players with age and on specific players attributes in need of monitoring for attainment of elite status at U16 or U19 level.

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Comparative characteristics of elite New Zealand and South African u/16 rugby players with reference to gamespecific skills, physical abilities and anthropometric data

Cited by 9 publications

References 29 publications

Anthropometric, physiological characteristics and rugby-specific game skills discriminating Zimbabwean under-16 male adolescent rugby players by level of competition

Anthropometric, physiological characteristics and rugby-specific game skills discriminating Zimbabwean under-16 male adolescent rugby players by level of competition

Disciplinary Power, the Oligopticon and Rhizomatic Surveillance in Elite Sports Academies

Anthropometric, physiological characteristics and rugby-specific game skills of schoolboy players of different age categories and playing standards

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