Repeated High-Intensity Effort Activity in Relation to Tries Scored and Conceded during Rugby League Match-Play

To examine the nature and frequency of rugby league repeated high-intensity effort (RHIE) activity in relation to tries scored and conceded in successful and unsuccessful teams.

One-hundred and eighty-five semi-professional rugby league players (mean ± SD age: 23.7 ± 3.2 yr) from 11 teams participated in this study. Global positioning system (GPS) data was collected during 21 matches. Data were analysed for the total number of RHIE bouts, efforts per bout, duration of efforts and recovery between efforts. Using notational analysis, a RHIE bout frequency distribution, representing 0-60s, 61-120s, 121-180s, 181-240s, and 241-300s prior to scoring and conceding a try was established.

Over 50% of RHIE bouts occurred within five minutes of a try. Bottom 4 teams performed a greater proportion of bouts within five minutes of a try than Top 4 teams (61.5% vs. 48.2%, effect size, ES = 0.69 ± 0.28, p=0.0001). Top 4 teams performed a greater number of RHIE bouts per conceded try (3.0 ± 2.1 vs. 1.6 ± 0.7, ES = 0.74 ± 0.51, p<0.05), while Bottom 4 teams performed a greater number of RHIE bouts per try scored (3.6 ± 2.5 vs. 2.1 ± 1.7, ES = 0.70 ± 0.71, p=0.10).

The majority of rugby league RHIE bouts occur at critical periods during match-play. Successful rugby league teams perform more RHIE bouts prior to conceding tries, while unsuccessful teams perform more bouts prior to scoring tries. These findings demonstrate that unsuccessful teams are required to work harder to score tries while successful teams work harder to prevent tries.