The contacts and collisions that are inherent to elite Rugby Union, alongside changes to players’ physical characteristics and match activities, have raised concerns regarding the level of injury burden associated with the professional game. This programme of research was therefore undertaken to investigate injury risk in this setting. The first study of this thesis (Chapter 3) presents a meta-analytic review of injury data relating to senior men’s professional Rugby Union, which shows an overall match incidence rate of 81 per 1000 player hours; this value is high in comparison with other popular team sports. In Chapter 4, the importance of injuries in the context of performance is demonstrated by showing a substantial negative association exists between injury burden and team success measures. Chapter 5 investigates subsequent injury patterns in this population and identifies injury diagnoses with a high risk of early recurrence, whilst also demonstrating that subsequent injuries are not more severe than their associated index injury. Playing professional Rugby Union on an artificial playing surface does not influence overall acute injury risk in comparison with natural grass surfaces (Chapter 6). Chapters 7 and 8 identify intrinsic risk factors for injury (previous injury, match and training loads) for the first time in this setting, and may be used to inform policies on these pertinent issues. Finally, predictive modelling techniques show some potential for predicting the occurrence and severity of injuries, but require further refinement before they can be implemented within elite Rugby Union teams. Overall, this programme of work highlights the importance of injury prevention for all professional Rugby Union stakeholders, addresses the need to use appropriate statistical techniques to account for the dynamic and clustered nature of sport injury data, and demonstrates approaches through which the injury burden associated with elite Rugby Union may be reduced.

English men's community rugby boasts the largest adult rugby playing population in the world. While regular participation in rugby has been linked to clinical health benefits there is an inherent risk of injury associated with rugby participation due to its collision based nature. This programme of research was conducted to identify means to reduce the injury risk in the context of men's community rugby. In Chapter 3, the Functional Movement Screen is used to assess the movement competency of men's community rugby players. Injury match exposure data was recorded for each player, and analysed to determine associations between players' movement competency and injury outcomes. Players that displayed both of pain and asymmetry on screening were associated with an incidence of overall injury at 22.0 injuries/1000 player match-hours. Players that scored 16 or more had an incidence of overall injury at 12.4 injuries/1000 player match-hours. Chapter 4 details the multi-stage process used to develop the injury prevention exercise programme specific to men's community rugby. Chapter 5 investigated barriers and facilitators to programme implementation in a sample of men's community rugby clubs. Results informed the refinement of the intervention exercise programme and detailed means to maximise successful delivery of the programme to clubs. Chapter 6 was a cluster randomised controlled trial of the final injury prevention exercise programme. Clear beneficial effects following implementation included a 40% reduction in targeted lower-limb injury and a 60% reduction in concussion compared to the control group. The injury burden for intervention clubs with higher compliance was reduced 50% compared to intervention clubs with lower compliance. Functional Movement Screening™ may identify men's community rugby players at higher risk of match injury. A targeted movement control exercise programme can provide efficacious means to reduce injury that is practicable within the men's community rugby environment.

In a club rugby union environment, sports nutrition information is frequently delivered to players by the central team figure, the coach. Rugby coaches in New Zealand undertake negligible formal nutrition training to become a coach, and the development of their knowledge base remains their responsibility. There is currently no literature on the nutrition knowledge level of New Zealand coaches. Internationally, literature on coaches' nutrition knowledge and dissemination of that knowledge is scarce. Research to date has used questionnaire techniques to quantify coaches' knowledge. These questionnaires have not been assessed for their psychometric properties. As such, a true measure of knowledge cannot be guaranteed from any of these contemporary studies. Therefore, the aims of this thesis were: 1) To design a nutrition knowledge questionnaire satisfying adequate statistical measures of validity and reliability; 2) To utilise the validated questionnaire to investigate the nutrition knowledge level of these coaches 3) To investigate whether or not New Zealand premier club rugby coaches provide nutrition advice to their athletes and the factors affecting this; and 4) To investigate the factors that predict coaches' knowledge. Study 1 involved designing a questionnaire that satisfied acceptable psychometric criteria of validity (content and construct) and reliability (test-retest). It was designed by an expert panel of sports dietitians and distributed to five groups, dietitians, university business staff, and nutrition, business and fitness students, selected for their expected variation in sports nutrition knowledge. Construct validity was high as indicated by significant mean knowledge score differences between the groups (p = 0.0001). Dietitians and nutrition students achieved significantly greater mean scores than the remaining groups. The questionnaire was administered a second time to the business staff and the dietitians to assess test-retest reliability, for which two methods were used. The first method involved a Pearson's product-moment correlation, and demonstrated acceptable reliability (r = 0.74-0.93), aside from the fluid sub-category (r = 0.52). The second, and more robust, method involved a percentage calculation of questions answered in an identical manner on both test occasions. A good test-retest concordance was achieved, with 81.2% duplication of responses of all questions. The findings of this study indicated that the questionnaire was suitably valid and reliable to determine the sports nutrition knowledge of New Zealand premier club rugby coaches. In Study 2, coaches (n = 168) completed the validated questionnaire, received by Internet, linked via e-mail, or (in case of inaccessibility), standard mail. Coaches responded correctly to 55.6% of all knowledge questions. Those who provided nutrition advice to their players (83.8% of the group) obtained a significantly greater knowledge score, 56.8%, than those who did not provide advice, 48.4% (p = 0.008). The study also examined the factors determining nutrition knowledge level. Significant relationships were identified between total knowledge score of all coaches and their qualifications (p = 0.0001), their own knowledge rating (p = 0.0001), whether or not they underwent nutrition training (p = 0.002) and whether or not they provided nutrition advice (p = 0.004). It can be concluded that New Zealand premier club rugby coaches are inadequately prepared to impart nutrition advice to athletes and could benefit from further nutrition training.

Female apologetic behaviour in sport includes any behaviour by female athletes that emphasizes a female athlete’s femininity. This behaviour is in response to the masculine and/or lesbian stereotypes associated with female sport participation. This thesis analyzed the female apologetic within Canadian women’s rugby. Attention was paid to the relationship of level of competition, racial identity, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status with female apologetic behaviours. In-depth interviews with nine Canadian, female rugby players from various levels of competition, races and sexual orientations were conducted to explore these negotiations. Judith Butler’s idea of gender performativity was used as a research lens. The participants stated that they did not currently engage in any apologetic behaviour, and it was found that level of rugby, race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status did not impact female apologetic behaviours. Rugby was found to be a safe place for the participants to perform resistant versions of femininity.

Female apologetic behaviour in sport includes any behaviour by female athletes that emphasizes a female athlete’s femininity. This behaviour is in response to the masculine and/or lesbian stereotypes associated with female sport participation. This thesis analyzed the female apologetic within Canadian women’s rugby. Attention was paid to the relationship of level of competition, racial identity, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status with female apologetic behaviours. In-depth interviews with nine Canadian, female rugby players from various levels of competition, races and sexual orientations were conducted to explore these negotiations. Judith Butler’s idea of gender performativity was used as a research lens. The participants stated that they did not currently engage in any apologetic behaviour, and it was found that level of rugby, race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status did not impact female apologetic behaviours. Rugby was found to be a safe place for the participants to perform resistant versions of femininity.

No description available.

Rugby union is being viewed and played by millions of people across the world. It is one of the fastest growing sport codes internationally and with more countries emerging and playing international and national games, the supporter attendance is crucial to the game. The rugby industry is mostly formal, with an international body controlling the sport globally and a governing body in each country to regulate the sport in terms of rules and regulations. These bodies must adhere to the international body’s vision and mission to grow the sport and to steer it in the correct direction. This study focuses on rugby game attendance of selected smaller unions in South Africa. Valuable information was gathered describing the socioeconomic profile and various preferences and habits of supporters attending rugby games. This information forms the basis for future studies to honour the people that support their unions when playing rugby nationally or internationally. The research was conducted through interviews with influential administrators within the rugby environment and questionnaires that were distributed among supporters that attended a Leopard and Puma game. The main conclusions during the study were the failure to attract supporters to the Leopards and the Pumas local matches. The supporters list various reasons for poor supporter attendances namely: • a lack of marketing, • no entertainment, • the quality of the teams that are competing, and • the time-slots in which the matches take place. A general and mutual concern among stakeholders for the future is the sustainability of supporters attending games of the smaller unions. The apparent lack of funding from the South African Rugby Union and supporters disinterest in their local union were singled out as serious shortcomings in protecting the interests of the stakeholders. All stakeholders need to engage on a national level strategy for developing structures and communication to promote and grow the potential of rugby not only in the cities, but in the entire South Africa. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Rugby union is being viewed and played by millions of people across the world. It is one of the fastest growing sport codes internationally and with more countries emerging and playing international and national games, the supporter attendance is crucial to the game. The rugby industry is mostly formal, with an international body controlling the sport globally and a governing body in each country to regulate the sport in terms of rules and regulations. These bodies must adhere to the international body’s vision and mission to grow the sport and to steer it in the correct direction. This study focuses on rugby game attendance of selected smaller unions in South Africa. Valuable information was gathered describing the socioeconomic profile and various preferences and habits of supporters attending rugby games. This information forms the basis for future studies to honour the people that support their unions when playing rugby nationally or internationally. The research was conducted through interviews with influential administrators within the rugby environment and questionnaires that were distributed among supporters that attended a Leopard and Puma game. The main conclusions during the study were the failure to attract supporters to the Leopards and the Pumas local matches. The supporters list various reasons for poor supporter attendances namely: • a lack of marketing, • no entertainment, • the quality of the teams that are competing, and • the time-slots in which the matches take place. A general and mutual concern among stakeholders for the future is the sustainability of supporters attending games of the smaller unions. The apparent lack of funding from the South African Rugby Union and supporters disinterest in their local union were singled out as serious shortcomings in protecting the interests of the stakeholders. All stakeholders need to engage on a national level strategy for developing structures and communication to promote and grow the potential of rugby not only in the cities, but in the entire South Africa. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The purpose of this study was to profile international level female sevens athletes and determine if anthropometric and physical qualities are able to differentiate between backs and forwards. Twenty-four subjects with a mean (±SD) age of 22.75±3.99 years and body weight of 69.36±5.21kg were sampled from the national team training program. Anthropometric measures (height, body mass and sum of 7 skinfolds) and performance measures (power clean, front squat, bench press, neutral grip pull up, 40m sprint and 1600m run) were collected across the 2013-2014 centralized period and compared across playing position. Thirteen backs (mean age±SD= 21.28±3.54 years) and eleven forwards (mean age±SD= 24.47±3.95 years) had significant differences in body mass (66.40±3.48kg vs. 72.87±4.79kg) and initial sprint momentum (366.81±19.83kg*m/s vs.399.24±22.42*m/s). However no other measures showed positional differences. It is possible that the lack of positional differences in female rugby sevens is due to the multifarious physical requirements of a sevens player, leading to a generic player profile or perhaps due to a lack of selective pressure. It is also possible that the anthropometric and physical qualities measured in this study lacked the necessary resolution or failed to capture the unique attributes of each position. In conclusion, this is the first research profiling international level female sevens athletes. The normative data presented within this paper highlights the physical requirements of female sevens athletes for strength and conditioning practitioners. In addition, the lack of positional differences discovered should impact training program design. / Graduate

In a club rugby union environment, sports nutrition information is frequently delivered to players by the central team figure, the coach. Rugby coaches in New Zealand undertake negligible formal nutrition training to become a coach, and the development of their knowledge base remains their responsibility. There is currently no literature on the nutrition knowledge level of New Zealand coaches. Internationally, literature on coaches' nutrition knowledge and dissemination of that knowledge is scarce. Research to date has used questionnaire techniques to quantify coaches' knowledge. These questionnaires have not been assessed for their psychometric properties. As such, a true measure of knowledge cannot be guaranteed from any of these contemporary studies. Therefore, the aims of this thesis were: 1) To design a nutrition knowledge questionnaire satisfying adequate statistical measures of validity and reliability; 2) To utilise the validated questionnaire to investigate the nutrition knowledge level of these coaches 3) To investigate whether or not New Zealand premier club rugby coaches provide nutrition advice to their athletes and the factors affecting this; and 4) To investigate the factors that predict coaches' knowledge. Study 1 involved designing a questionnaire that satisfied acceptable psychometric criteria of validity (content and construct) and reliability (test-retest). It was designed by an expert panel of sports dietitians and distributed to five groups, dietitians, university business staff, and nutrition, business and fitness students, selected for their expected variation in sports nutrition knowledge. Construct validity was high as indicated by significant mean knowledge score differences between the groups (p = 0.0001). Dietitians and nutrition students achieved significantly greater mean scores than the remaining groups. The questionnaire was administered a second time to the business staff and the dietitians to assess test-retest reliability, for which two methods were used. The first method involved a Pearson's product-moment correlation, and demonstrated acceptable reliability (r = 0.74-0.93), aside from the fluid sub-category (r = 0.52). The second, and more robust, method involved a percentage calculation of questions answered in an identical manner on both test occasions. A good test-retest concordance was achieved, with 81.2% duplication of responses of all questions. The findings of this study indicated that the questionnaire was suitably valid and reliable to determine the sports nutrition knowledge of New Zealand premier club rugby coaches. In Study 2, coaches (n = 168) completed the validated questionnaire, received by Internet, linked via e-mail, or (in case of inaccessibility), standard mail. Coaches responded correctly to 55.6% of all knowledge questions. Those who provided nutrition advice to their players (83.8% of the group) obtained a significantly greater knowledge score, 56.8%, than those who did not provide advice, 48.4% (p = 0.008). The study also examined the factors determining nutrition knowledge level. Significant relationships were identified between total knowledge score of all coaches and their qualifications (p = 0.0001), their own knowledge rating (p = 0.0001), whether or not they underwent nutrition training (p = 0.002) and whether or not they provided nutrition advice (p = 0.004). It can be concluded that New Zealand premier club rugby coaches are inadequately prepared to impart nutrition advice to athletes and could benefit from further nutrition training.