O rugby union XV é um esporte coletivo e de invasão praticado em um campo gramado por duas equipes compostas por 15 jogadores cada e divididos em dois grupos denominados forwards (8 jogadores) e backs (7 jogadores) de acordo com a função desempenhada durante a partida. As demandas física e fisiológica do rugby exigem que os atletas recuperem suas reservas energéticas em pequenos intervalos ou durante exercícios de baixa intensidade. Desta forma, o consumo máximo de oxigênio (VO2Máx), indicador de potência aeróbia, torna-se uma variável importante para o desempenho na modalidade. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a possibilidade de predizer a potência aeróbia em jogadores amadores de rugby union XV utilizando os testes de campo Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (Yo-Yo IRT1) e 5 m Multiple Shuttle Test (5-m MST). Para isso, 42 jogadores, 22 forwards e 20 backs, foram avaliados em três etapas: (1) em laboratório com teste máximo em esteira; (2) teste de campo definido por sorteio na primeira etapa; e (3) segundo teste de campo. Com os dados obtidos nos três testes foram realizadas análises descritivas, de comparação, de correlação, de regressão e de concordância. Dentre os principais resultados, backs, em comparação a forwards, apresentaram maior VO2Máx (respectivamente, 61,7 ± 15 ml.kg-1.min-1 e 51,6 ± 10,1 ml.kg-1.min-1), resultado no Yo- Yo IRT1 (respectivamente, 16,4 ± 0,8 e 14,9 ± 0,9) e distância final no Yo-Yo IRT1 (respectivamente, 1283,3± 312,5 m e 792 ± 277,6 m). Foram encontradas correlações significativas entre resultado final e distância final total obtidas no Yo-Yo IRT1 e o VO2Máx relativo a massa corporal (respectivamente, r = 0,425 e r = 0,459). Utilizandose a distância final percorrida no Yo-Yo IRT1, o VO2Máx, em jogadores de rugby, pode ser estimado com a aplicação da equação VO2Máx = 0,016(DIST Yo-Yo) + 40,578. / Rugby Union XV is a sport played in pitches by two teams of 15 players each. The players are divided into two groups according to the role in the game: the forwards (8 players) and the backs (7 players). During a match, the physical and physiological demands of rugby require that athletes recover its energy reserves in shorts intervals or during low-intensity exercise. Thus, the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2Max), an aerobic power index, becomes an important variable for the performance in the discipline. The objective of this study was to verify the possibility to predict the aerobic power in rugby union XV amateur players using the field tests Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (Yo-Yo IRT1) and 5 m Multiple Shuttle Test (5-m MST). Forty-two players, 22 forwards and 20 backs, were evaluated in three phases: (1) in a laboratory with maximum treadmill test; (2) field test set by a draw in the first phase; and (3) second field test. Descriptive, comparison, correlation, regression and level of agreement analyses were performed. Among the mayor results, backs, compared with forwards, reported a higher VO2Max (respectively 61.7 ± 15 ml.kg-1.min-1 and 51.6 ± 10.1 ml.kg- 1.min-1), Yo-Yo IRT1 results (respectively 16.4 ± 0.8 and 14.9 ± 0.9), and Yo-Yo IRT1 total distance (respectively 1283.3± 312.5 m e 792 ± 277.6 m). Significant correlations were found between the result and total distance on the Yo-Yo IRT1 and the VO2Max (respectively r = 0.425 and r = 0.459). Using the total distance covered on the Yo-Yo IRT1, the VO2Max in rugby players, can be estimated using the equation VO2Max = 0.016(DIST Yo-Yo) + 40.578.

O rugby union XV é um esporte coletivo e de invasão praticado em um campo gramado por duas equipes compostas por 15 jogadores cada e divididos em dois grupos denominados forwards (8 jogadores) e backs (7 jogadores) de acordo com a função desempenhada durante a partida. As demandas física e fisiológica do rugby exigem que os atletas recuperem suas reservas energéticas em pequenos intervalos ou durante exercícios de baixa intensidade. Desta forma, o consumo máximo de oxigênio (VO2Máx), indicador de potência aeróbia, torna-se uma variável importante para o desempenho na modalidade. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a possibilidade de predizer a potência aeróbia em jogadores amadores de rugby union XV utilizando os testes de campo Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (Yo-Yo IRT1) e 5 m Multiple Shuttle Test (5-m MST). Para isso, 42 jogadores, 22 forwards e 20 backs, foram avaliados em três etapas: (1) em laboratório com teste máximo em esteira; (2) teste de campo definido por sorteio na primeira etapa; e (3) segundo teste de campo. Com os dados obtidos nos três testes foram realizadas análises descritivas, de comparação, de correlação, de regressão e de concordância. Dentre os principais resultados, backs, em comparação a forwards, apresentaram maior VO2Máx (respectivamente, 61,7 ± 15 ml.kg-1.min-1 e 51,6 ± 10,1 ml.kg-1.min-1), resultado no Yo- Yo IRT1 (respectivamente, 16,4 ± 0,8 e 14,9 ± 0,9) e distância final no Yo-Yo IRT1 (respectivamente, 1283,3± 312,5 m e 792 ± 277,6 m). Foram encontradas correlações significativas entre resultado final e distância final total obtidas no Yo-Yo IRT1 e o VO2Máx relativo a massa corporal (respectivamente, r = 0,425 e r = 0,459). Utilizandose a distância final percorrida no Yo-Yo IRT1, o VO2Máx, em jogadores de rugby, pode ser estimado com a aplicação da equação VO2Máx = 0,016(DIST Yo-Yo) + 40,578. / Rugby Union XV is a sport played in pitches by two teams of 15 players each. The players are divided into two groups according to the role in the game: the forwards (8 players) and the backs (7 players). During a match, the physical and physiological demands of rugby require that athletes recover its energy reserves in shorts intervals or during low-intensity exercise. Thus, the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2Max), an aerobic power index, becomes an important variable for the performance in the discipline. The objective of this study was to verify the possibility to predict the aerobic power in rugby union XV amateur players using the field tests Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (Yo-Yo IRT1) and 5 m Multiple Shuttle Test (5-m MST). Forty-two players, 22 forwards and 20 backs, were evaluated in three phases: (1) in a laboratory with maximum treadmill test; (2) field test set by a draw in the first phase; and (3) second field test. Descriptive, comparison, correlation, regression and level of agreement analyses were performed. Among the mayor results, backs, compared with forwards, reported a higher VO2Max (respectively 61.7 ± 15 ml.kg-1.min-1 and 51.6 ± 10.1 ml.kg- 1.min-1), Yo-Yo IRT1 results (respectively 16.4 ± 0.8 and 14.9 ± 0.9), and Yo-Yo IRT1 total distance (respectively 1283.3± 312.5 m e 792 ± 277.6 m). Significant correlations were found between the result and total distance on the Yo-Yo IRT1 and the VO2Max (respectively r = 0.425 and r = 0.459). Using the total distance covered on the Yo-Yo IRT1, the VO2Max in rugby players, can be estimated using the equation VO2Max = 0.016(DIST Yo-Yo) + 40.578.

O rugby union XV é um esporte coletivo e de invasão praticado em um campo gramado por duas equipes compostas por 15 jogadores cada e divididos em dois grupos denominados forwards (8 jogadores) e backs (7 jogadores) de acordo com a função desempenhada durante a partida. As demandas física e fisiológica do rugby exigem que os atletas recuperem suas reservas energéticas em pequenos intervalos ou durante exercícios de baixa intensidade. Desta forma, o consumo máximo de oxigênio (VO2Máx), indicador de potência aeróbia, torna-se uma variável importante para o desempenho na modalidade. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a possibilidade de predizer a potência aeróbia em jogadores amadores de rugby union XV utilizando os testes de campo Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (Yo-Yo IRT1) e 5 m Multiple Shuttle Test (5-m MST). Para isso, 42 jogadores, 22 forwards e 20 backs, foram avaliados em três etapas: (1) em laboratório com teste máximo em esteira; (2) teste de campo definido por sorteio na primeira etapa; e (3) segundo teste de campo. Com os dados obtidos nos três testes foram realizadas análises descritivas, de comparação, de correlação, de regressão e de concordância. Dentre os principais resultados, backs, em comparação a forwards, apresentaram maior VO2Máx (respectivamente, 61,7 ± 15 ml.kg-1.min-1 e 51,6 ± 10,1 ml.kg-1.min-1), resultado no Yo- Yo IRT1 (respectivamente, 16,4 ± 0,8 e 14,9 ± 0,9) e distância final no Yo-Yo IRT1 (respectivamente, 1283,3± 312,5 m e 792 ± 277,6 m). Foram encontradas correlações significativas entre resultado final e distância final total obtidas no Yo-Yo IRT1 e o VO2Máx relativo a massa corporal (respectivamente, r = 0,425 e r = 0,459). Utilizandose a distância final percorrida no Yo-Yo IRT1, o VO2Máx, em jogadores de rugby, pode ser estimado com a aplicação da equação VO2Máx = 0,016(DIST Yo-Yo) + 40,578. / Rugby Union XV is a sport played in pitches by two teams of 15 players each. The players are divided into two groups according to the role in the game: the forwards (8 players) and the backs (7 players). During a match, the physical and physiological demands of rugby require that athletes recover its energy reserves in shorts intervals or during low-intensity exercise. Thus, the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2Max), an aerobic power index, becomes an important variable for the performance in the discipline. The objective of this study was to verify the possibility to predict the aerobic power in rugby union XV amateur players using the field tests Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (Yo-Yo IRT1) and 5 m Multiple Shuttle Test (5-m MST). Forty-two players, 22 forwards and 20 backs, were evaluated in three phases: (1) in a laboratory with maximum treadmill test; (2) field test set by a draw in the first phase; and (3) second field test. Descriptive, comparison, correlation, regression and level of agreement analyses were performed. Among the mayor results, backs, compared with forwards, reported a higher VO2Max (respectively 61.7 ± 15 ml.kg-1.min-1 and 51.6 ± 10.1 ml.kg- 1.min-1), Yo-Yo IRT1 results (respectively 16.4 ± 0.8 and 14.9 ± 0.9), and Yo-Yo IRT1 total distance (respectively 1283.3± 312.5 m e 792 ± 277.6 m). Significant correlations were found between the result and total distance on the Yo-Yo IRT1 and the VO2Max (respectively r = 0.425 and r = 0.459). Using the total distance covered on the Yo-Yo IRT1, the VO2Max in rugby players, can be estimated using the equation VO2Max = 0.016(DIST Yo-Yo) + 40.578.

Le rugby à XV est un sport collectif qui se caractérise en match par des courses et des collisions de hauteintensité très variables selon les positions. La première partie des travaux, qui s’est centrée sur l’analyse del’activité par centrale d’analyse cinématique, a mis en évidence une activité de haute intensité plus importante enCoupe d’Europe qu’en TOP14 qui varie selon les cinq postes de jeu en termes de répétitions d’efforts et dedistances parcourues à haute intensité notamment chez les avants. De plus, ces activités de haute intensitédiminuent en première et deuxième mi-temps et sont différentes selon les positions. En effet, une diminution plusprécoce est observée chez les avants et les trois-quarts ailes, qui est majorée au niveau des accélérations entre lesdeux dernières périodes d’un match pour les avants démontrant un impact de la fatigue. A l’inverse, les arrièresarrivent globalement à maintenir une intensité élevée. Ainsi, au regard des résultats de la première partie, ladeuxième partie des travaux a consisté en la mise en place d’un entraînement par répétition de sprints en hypoxieinduite par hypoventilation à bas volume pulmonaire. Celui-ci a permis une amélioration significative de lacapacité à répéter des sprints après sept séances d’entraînement par hypoventilation chez les joueurs très entraînés,alors qu’aucun changement n’a été observé dans le groupe normoxie. L’entraînement en rugby à XV se caractérisepar la répétition d’efforts de haute intensité à dominante dynamique (courses) et statique (musculation, phases decombat) qui vont impacter le remodelage du ventricule gauche de manière spécifique. La troisième partie a montré,à partir d’échocardiographies de repos en mode 2D-strain, une hypertrophie physiologique majorée chez les avantscomparativement aux arrières. Cette hypertrophie s’accompagne d’une augmentation des pressions de remplissageet une diminution de la relaxation lors de la diastole, notamment chez les avants. Enfin, malgré une torsionventriculaire inchangée, les rotations et les vitesses de rotation sont plus grandes au niveau basal et plus faibles auniveau apical chez les joueurs de rugby à XV. Ainsi, cette thèse CIFRE apporte de nouvelles données au niveaude l’analyse de l’activité, des méthodes d’entraînement facilement applicables pour l’entraîneur, ainsi que desdonnées plus spécifiques à l’évaluation cardiaque de repos pour le clinicien. / Rugby union is a team sport characterized by high-intensity collisions and running efforts during gameswhich are position-dependent. Accounting for the five different positional groups, the first part of this thesisdemonstrated greater high-intensity activity in European cup when compared to the TOP14 rugby unioncompetition; with position-dependent variations in the frequency of repeated high-intensity efforts and the relativedistance of high-speed movements in forwards. A decrease in high-intensity movement parameters was observedduring the first and second halves of a competitive rugby union match. Indeed, the decrease in high-intensitymovements was earlier in forwards and outside backs who peaked in high-intensity accelerations between the lasttwo periods of the game, while backs were able to maintain their high-intensity activity throughout the match.Collectively, the capacity for a player to repeat high-intensity efforts during a rugby union game varied by thelevel of competition and was influenced by the onset of fatigue. In this context, the second part of this thesis was to conduct a repeated-sprint training in hypoxia. Hypoxia was induced by voluntary hypoventilation at low lungvolume. This training protocol has largely improved the repeated-sprint ability performance in highly-trainedrugby union players after seven training sessions of hypoventilation, whereas it was unaltered in the controlnormoxic group. Such training demands in rugby union (characterised by repeated high-intensity efforts indynamic (running) and static (weightlifting, fighting)) have a specific impact on left ventricular remodelling. Thelast part of this thesis, using 2D-speckle-tracking resting echocardiography, demonstrated that LV hypertrophywas greater in forwards when compared to backs and to control group. Systolic function remained unchanged, butdiastolic function was altered, mainly in forwards, with an increase in filling pressures and a decrease in leftventricular relaxation. Finally, left ventricular twisting was similar while rugby union players exhibited lowerapical and higher basal rotations velocities compared to controls. Collectively, this CIFRE research programprovided new data in activity analysis and training methods that are widely applicable to a range of rugby unionprograms and data on left ventricular morphology, function and mechanics for the clinician.

L’objet de ce travail de recherche est de s’interroger sur la dialectique entre la professionnalisation et la mondialisation du rugby à XV et l’évolution des ancrages territoriaux qui en découle, en fonction du modèle sportif qui est propre à chaque terrain d’investigation sélectionné : la Bretagne, le Munster et la Géorgie. L’enjeu est de démontrer dans quelle mesure la professionnalisation des organisations et des acteurs sportifs est le moteur à la fois de la globalisation rugbystique et de nouvelles logiques oligopolistiques de différentiation territoriale du rugby, aux différentes échelles spatiales. S’étant diffusée au sein des championnats domestiques amateurs, cette professionnalisation provoque des dynamiques au profit des territoires sportifs les plus compétitifs et les mieux intégrés au reste du monde rugbystique globalisé, tout en étant le vecteur d’identités territoriales spécifiques. Le choix des trois terrains d’enquête résulte de la pertinence de s’interroger sur l’articulation entre les modèles sportifs et les ancrages territoriaux pour appréhender chaque modèle de production d’espace rugbystique, et sur les formes spécifiques d’ancrage territorial de la pratique du rugby, en considérant celui-ci comme un médiateur territorial. Pour chaque terrain d’enquête, tout en procédant par itération, la mise en oeuvre de la méthode de la triangulation permet d’approfondir et de mettre à l’épreuve les concepts mobilisés. Trois grandes approches de l’analyse socio-spatiale du sport sont privilégiées : l’approche structurelle, l’approche systémique, et celle qui donne de l’importance au rôle des acteurs. / The aim of this research work is to wonder about the dialectic between the professionalization and the globalization of the rugby union, and the evolution of the resulting territorial anchorages, depending on the specific sporting model of the investigation lands that have been selected: Brittany, Munster and Georgia. The issue is to demonstrate to what extent the professionalization of the organizations and the sporting actors is at the same time the driving force of the rugby globalization and of new rugby territorial differentiations’ oligopolistic logics, on various levels in geographic terms. Being diffused into the domestic amateur championships, this professionalization stimulates dynamics in favor of the much competitive sporting territories and the best integrated to the rest of the globalized world, while being the vector of specific territorial identities. The selection of the three investigation lands stems from the relevantness of the interrogation on the link between the sporting models and the territorial anchorages to comprehend each model of rugby territorial production and the specific forms of the territorial anchorage of the rugby practice, considering this sport as a territorial mediator. For each investigation land, while proceeding by iteration, the triangulation method implemented allows to go deeper and to test the concepts that have been mobilized. Three major socio spatial analysis approaches have been focused: the structural approach, the systemic approach and the approach that highlights the actors’ role.

L'objectif général de ce projet était d'analyser l'activité lors de compétitions de niveau international en rugby à XV et d'explorer l'évolution du niveau d'activité au cours du match pour quantifier la fatigue. Dans une première étude il a été démontré que le niveau d'activité ne variait pas de façon significative au cours du match si l'on quantifiait l'activité des joueurs par l'analyse de la vitesse et du rapport entre la durée d'activité et la durée de la récupération. Par contre, on observe une diminution significative de l'accélération moyenne sur la deuxième mi-temps, cette diminution étant plus particulièrement marquée pour le groupe constitué des troisièmes lignes et des talonneurs. Dans une deuxième étude, nous avons proposé d'étudier la fatigue lors de 12 répétitions d'exercice statique simulant la poussée en mêlée. Les résultats démontrent une diminution significative de la force produite de 11,7 % ce qui est relativement faible si l'on considère le protocole qui consistait à répéter 12 fois 5 s de poussée maximale entrecoupées de périodes de récupération de 15 s. Le faible coût métabolique de la contraction isométrique en comparaison de la contraction concentrique pourrait expliquer la diminution relativement faible de la force produite. L'ensemble de ces résultats suggère que l'enchaînement des séquences de jeu statiques et dynamiques et des périodes de récupération lors d'une compétition internationale permet de maintenir le niveau global d'activité / The overall objective of this project was to analyze the activity at international level competitions in rugby union and to explore the evolution of the level of activity during the match to quantify fatigue. In the first study it was demonstrated that the level of activity did not vary significantly during the match if velocity and the ratio between duration of activity and of recovery periods were analyzed. A significant decrease in the average acceleration in the second half was evidenced; this decrease was particularly marked for the group constituted by back rows and hookers. In a second study, we proposed to study fatigue during static exercise simulating the scrum. The results show a significant decrease in the force produced by 11.7 %, which is relatively low considering that the protocol consisted in 12 time 5 s of maximum effort interspersed with recovery periods of 15 s. The low metabolic cost of isometric contraction compared to concentric contraction could explain the relatively small decrease of the force produced. Taken together, these results suggest that the players’ combinations of action, static or dynamic, and recovery times were optimal for preventing large decrease in physical performance