Managing Player Load in Professional Rugby Union
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BJSM Online First, published on August 9, 2016 as 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096191 Review Managing player load in professional rugby union: a review of current knowledge and practices Kenneth L Quarrie,1 Martin Raftery,2 Josh Blackie,3 Christian J Cook,4 Colin W Fuller,5 Tim J Gabbett,6 Andrew J Gray,7 Nicholas Gill,8 Liam Hennessy,9 Simon Kemp,10 Mike Lambert,11 Rob Nichol,3 Stephen D Mellalieu,12 Julien Piscione,13 Jörg Stadelmann,14 Ross Tucker2,15 For numbered affiliations see ABSTRACT that there are around 4000 professional players end of article. Background The loads to which professional rugby (Blackie, personal communication, 2015). Rugby fi Correspondence to players are subjected has been identi ed as a concern by became openly professional in 1995, an occurrence Dr Kenneth L Quarrie, Senior coaches, players and administrators. In November 2014, that was associated with marked increases in the Scientist, New Zealand Rugby, World Rugby commissioned an expert group to identify number of physical contact events typically occur- 100 Molesworth Street, the physical demands and non-physical load issues ring per match at the elite level of the sport and Wellington 6140, New associated with participation in professional rugby. the body mass and physical performance character- Zealand; ken.quarrie@nzrugby. 3 co.nz Objective To describe the current state of knowledge istics of elite players. The development, expansion about the loads encountered by professional rugby players and popularity of professional competitions have Accepted 11 July 2016 and the implications for their physical and mental health. resulted in an extension of the playing season for Findings The group defined ‘load’ as it relates to many elite rugby players. Although rugby was trad- professional rugby players as the total stressors and itionally a ‘winter sport’, the professional rugby demands applied to the players. In the 2013–2014 season now lasts up to 10 months with players seasons, 40% of professional players appeared in 20 potentially able to play in more than 30 matches matches or more, and 5% of players appeared in 30 per season. Since elite-level players are regularly matches or more. Matches account for ∼5–11% of required to play for different teams across multiple exposure to rugby-related activities (matches, team and competitions, they often have very limited time individual training sessions) during professional available following the end of one competition to competitions. The match injury rate is about 27 times recover and attempt to improve their level of con- higher than that in training. The working group surmised ditioning before beginning their next competition.4 that players entering a new level of play, players with Concerns have been expressed by administrators, unresolved previous injuries, players who are relatively managers, coaches, medical teams and players and older and players who are subjected to rapid increases in their representative associations about the increas- load are probably at increased risk of injury. A mix of ing loads that players face and the consequent ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ measures in conjunction with implications for injury, ill-health and potential long- effective communication among team staff and between term sequelae.56Given these concerns, the meas- staff and players was held to be the best approach to urement of load and monitoring of players monitoring and managing player loads. While responses to those loads has become increasingly comprehensive monitoring holds promise for individually prioritised within elite rugby. In November 2014, addressing player loads, it brings with it ethical and legal World Rugby convened an ‘expert group’ meeting responsibilities that rugby organisations need to address of coaches, rugby administrators, player representa- to ensure that players’ personal information is adequately tives, sports medicine practitioners and sports protected. scientists to discuss the physical demands and non- Conclusions Administrators, broadcasters, team physical load issues associated with participation in owners, team staff and the players themselves have professional rugby. This paper, which resulted from important roles in balancing the desire to have the ‘best that meeting, describes the current state of knowl- players’ on the field with the ongoing health of players. edge with respect to the typical loads encountered In contrast, the coaching, fitness and medical staff exert by professional rugby players and the implications significant control over the activities, duration and for their physical and mental health. intensity of training sessions. If load is a major risk factor for injury, then managing training loads should be an fi important element in enabling players to perform in a t LOAD DEFINITION—MEASURING LOADS state as often as possible. APPLIED TO ATHLETES AND MONITORING ATHLETE RESPONSES ‘Workload’ and ‘load’ are terms widely used in INTRODUCTION rugby and other sports. There has been a lack of To cite: Quarrie KL, Rugby Union (rugby) is a collision sport with a consistency regarding definition and use, in particu- Raftery M, Blackie J, et al. high reported incidence of training and match lar with respect to whether the term ‘load’ relates Br J Sports Med Published 1 ’ 2 Online First: [please include injuries. According to World Rugby s website, to the measurement of external stressors applied to Day Month Year] there are currently 120 countries affiliated to World an individual or to the monitoring of an indivi- doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016- Rugby with ∼7 million players worldwide; the dual’s physiological and psychological responses to 096191 International Rugby Players Association reports those stressors. Quarrie KL, et al. Br J Sports Med 2016;0:1–8. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096191 1 Copyright Article author (or their employer) 2016. Produced by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd under licence. Review The group defined ‘load’ as it relates to professional rugby players as ‘the total stressors and demands applied to the Box 1 Loads to which professional rugby players are players’. Load comprises rugby-related and non-rugby-related subjected inputs, of which the physical components can readily be charac- terised according to the FITT acronym—frequency, intensity, – Physical loads time and type.7 9 The individual’s response to the load applied ▸ Matches; may be appraised through either ‘objective’ or ‘subjective’ moni- ▸ Training; toring, which are discussed in the section entitled ‘Monitoring – Team practice; rugby players’ responses to loads’.9 The relevance of load to – Individual gym-based training (eg, strength and power athlete performance, well-being and injury risk should be con- training/cross training/flexibility and proprioception work); sidered from an acute and cumulative perspective. To reduce – Rugby conditioning (eg, interval running/speed training/ confusion, this paper will refer to measurement of loads applied agility drills); and monitoring of an individual’s response to load. – Pool/recovery; Some of the common elements that contribute to the loads – Fitness tests; experienced by professional rugby players are shown in box 1. ▸ Injury/illness management/rehabilitation. These vary both between players, and, within players, from day Preparation for matches to day, over competitions and across their career. Note that ▸ Travel; some listed items could appear under more than one heading. – Jet lag; Mellalieu and colleagues, who have provided more detailed – Travel fatigue; breakdowns of stressors experienced by sports performers, cate- ▸ Performance analysis; gorised the demands faced by professional athletes under three – Learning team tactics/play patterns; main sources: competition, organisational and personal.10 11 – Match reviews/previews. Nutrition ▸ Eating for body composition management; ELITE PLAYER EXPOSURE TO RUGBY ▸ Timing/content of meals for performance; Performance dominates the world of elite sport, and the initial ▸ Alcohol/drug use; impetus for measurements of load and monitoring of athletes ▸ Supplement use. was driven by the desire to improve performance. Despite this, Interpersonal relationships the typical exposure of elite players to rugby matches does not ▸ Family; appear to have been published previously. Match appearance ▸ Friends; information (for the 2013–2014 Northern Hemisphere season, ▸ Team mates; and the 2014 Southern Hemisphere season) for players in the ▸ Team staff; Aviva Premiership, the Guinness Pro 12, Super Rugby and the ▸ Agents/managers; French Top 14 league was obtained from Opta, a commercial ▸ Fans; sports data provider (tables 1 and 2). Players in these tourna- ▸ Media. ments can also appear in international matches and competi- Personal development tions below the level reported on, so in an attempt to provide ▸ Career planning for life after rugby; an estimate of exposure that was as accurate as possible, infor- ▸ Study/other employment. mation was integrated with player appearances in the following Other demands/loads tournaments: ▸ Community promotions of rugby (eg, coaching sessions at ▸ Six Nations, the Rugby Championship, the Nations Cup, the schools/clubs); Pacific Nations Cup, non-tournament internationals ▸ Sponsorship/commercial obligations; ▸ National Rugby Championship, ITM Cup, Currie Cup (pro- ▸ Media coverage; vincial competitions in Australia, New Zealand and South ▸ Drug testing; Africa, respectively) ▸ Socialising. ▸ The LV (Anglo-Welsh) Cup, the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup (knock-out competitions