Isokinetics and Exercise Science 20 (2012) 77–83 77 DOI 10.3233/IES-2012-0444 IOS Press Match running performance in Spanish elite male rugby union using global positioning system Luis J. Su´ arez-Arrones a,b,∗ , L. Javier Portillo c,d , Jos´ e M. Gonz´ alez-Rav´ e c , Victor E. Mu˜ noz c and Francisco Sanchez c a Vfsport, Sevilla, Spain b Faculty of Sport, University of Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain c School of Sport Sciences, University of Castilla la Mancha, Toledo, Spain d Spanish Federation of Rugby, Madrid, Spain Abstract. The aim of this study was to analyze the movement patterns and physiological demands of an international level male Rugby Union team. Fourteen samples of running performance, exercise intensity, acceleration and impacts to the body were taken over the course of 3 games using a GPS device. The players covered a mean distance of 6162 m per game, with the forwards covering 5853 m and the backs 6471 m at average speeds throughout the games of 4.3 km/h and 4.77 km/h, respectively. For more than 75.5% and 68.5% of the game forwards and backs, respectively, were exposed to heart rates above 80% of their maximal heart rate. The player’s time-related work to rest ratio was 1:0.8. Rugby Union can be considered a high intensity intermittent team sport with many and varied non-locomotor activities and actions that occur during the playing of matches. These actions and activities greatly increase the exercise intensity but are registered as being low speed running. Each position in the field requires specific physiological demands. Keywords: Competition, elite, rugby, GPS 1. Introduction Rugby union is a contact team sport that demands a variety of physiological requirements owing to the high-intensity nature of the sport, which involves short repeated sprints to high degrees of strength expression through high frequency body contact. The match has a duration of 80 min and is intermittent in nature, requir- ing players to compete in a challenging contest com- prising intense bouts of sprinting and tackling separated by short bouts of lower-intensity activity (recovery) [1]. Movement analysis is important for understanding the physiological and technical demands associated with field and court team sports, and for assisting coach- ∗ Address for correspondence: Luis J. Su´ arez Moreno-Arrones, Departamento de deporte e inform´ atica, University of Pablo de Ola- vide, Carretera de Utrera n ◦ 1, 41013, Sevilla, Spain. Tel.: +34 954349200; Fax: +34 925 268846; E-mail: ljsuamor@upo.es. es with the design of training programmes aimed at improving match performance. Recent studies [2– 11] have added to our understanding of the perfor- mance characteristics of professional Rugby match play. Rushall and Pyke [12] and Gabbett et al. [13] showed how the greatest training benefits occur when the training stimulus simulates the movement patterns and physiological demands of the sport. In a team sport like rugby, movement patterns are of an intermittent nature, with periods of maximum or near maximum intensity alternating with periods of moderate or low intensity [14]. The majority of studies have investi- gated demands during rugby union match-play through time-motion analysis systems using video recordings of matches [5,6,9,10,15] , with recent studies adding valuable information that has led to a better understand- ing of the characteristics of play in professional rug- by matches [2,4,7,11]. Advances in notational anal- ysis technologies, such as global positioning systems ISSN 0959-3020/12/$27.50  2012 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved AUTHOR COPY