Introduction: In order to construct sport and position specific training regimens for players, the physiological demands players of different positions experience during match play have to be available (Duthie, Pyne & Hooper, 2003a). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the positional differences in tertiary institution rugby game intensities, using heart rates and graded maximal test values. Methods: In the weeks between three rugby matches ten forwards and eleven backs performed a standard incremental maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) test to the point of exhaustion. The test was used for determining two ventilatory threshold points by which the low, moderate and high-intensity heart rate zones were categorized for each of the players (Chicharro, Hoyos & Lucia, 2000). Results: The telemetry heart rate values recorded during each of the matches revealed that forwards spent significantly more (P < 0.05) time in the high-intensity zone compared to the backs (54.6% vs. 32.7%), whereas the backs spent significantly more time in the low-intensity zone during the match compared to the forwards (34.2% vs. 11.3%). Also, the mean duration of high-intensity bouts also lasted longer for the forwards than for the backs (1min:51s versus 38s) when the matches were analyzed as a whole. Discussion: Sport scientists and conditioning coaches should construct different training programs for the two positional groups, concentrating more on frequent high-intensity activities lasting more or less 40 s for the backs and more or less 111 s for the forwards. In conclusion, this is the first study to make use of heart rate and graded maximal test values to show that significant differences exist with regard to the game time spent in the different heart rate intensity zones between rugby union forwards and backs.
© Copyright 2012 17th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Bruges, 4. -7. July 2012. Veröffentlicht von Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.