Liam Hennessyand Jim Kiltyon the specific physical fitness demands that rugby places on the modern-day player

THIS WEEK we continue to examine the physical demands made by some of our main sports in Ireland by looking at rugby. Knowing the demands of your sport is important because they inform you on two key points for planning physical training - the movements required, and the energy system you need to train.

The demands of rugby: rugby is a multi-activity sport played over 80 minutes. The game can be described as a discontinuous, high-intensity, multi-activity sport. Some key points are also important in relation to the player and the level of play namely:

Physique and body shape can differ dramatically from player to player, and each position makes its own unique physical demands on the player.

The higher the level of play (eg, club v international game) the greater the demands on the fitness levels of the players.

Rugby at professional level involves the repetition of multiple activities, including, twisting, turning, tackling, falling, jumping, accelerating, changing direction and sprinting. Much as with the previous sports the list of actual activity changes is over 1,000 per game. This means the player has to be multi-movement-skilled and has to have the strength and power to withstand the physical collision and tackle and set-piece demands of the game. The set-piece demands of the scrum in particular demand very great strength and power.

Studies on the professional game also tell us players can cover from nine to 14kms during a game depending on sprinting or striding. Quite a bit is covered by lower-zone activities such as jogging or walking. What players cover most ground in competition? We have seen rugby, Gaelic and soccer players cover up to 15 kilometres per game but compared to Australian Rules these sports fall well behind. It is common for Australian Rules players to cover 20 kilometres and even more in a game.

The physical demands of rugby can be summarised as to include:

Multiple acceleration and sprint efforts over multi-directional distances typically up to 25 metres for players in general.

The outside backs can cover greater distances at top speed whereas the forwards tend to reproduce shorter distances of explosive acceleration bursts more frequently.

Multi-directional activities including weaving, running sideways, sidestepping, stepping backwards, in addition to straight-line running are constantly repeated by all players.

Total body encounters are frequent in the form of tackles, collisions, scrums, mauls and rucks and vary between positions.

It has to be stated players of all these field games should ensure they are fit to train before embarking on intense training. This means being strong and flexible enough to complete the movement activities that the specific games will challenge. While there are some common elements throughout all the team sports in terms of movement ability each sport has its specific demands. Specificity here relates to the very individual movements and skills each sport makes on its players. These have to be trained for throughout the year. This is something we will return to later.

These notes are contributed by Dr Liam Hennessy and Jim Kilty of Setanta College, the Institute of Strength and Conditioning Studies. (www.setantacollege.com)