In-Season Assessment of Dietary Intake and Match Demands of Men's Collegiate Rugby Sevens Players

Horlock, CF, Allen, LE, Jagim, AR, Jones, MT, and Fields, JB. In-season assessment of dietary intake and match demands of men's collegiate Rugby Sevens players. J Strength Cond Res 40(9): 1103-1110, 2026-Limited research has examined the external workload demands and dietary intake of collegiate men's Rugby Sevens players. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to (a) quantify match demands in Division 1-AA collegiate Rugby Sevens across a competitive season, and (b) assess players' dietary intake relative to sport-specific nutrition guidelines. Division 1-AA men's collegiate Rugby Sevens players ( n = 13; age: mass: 87 ± 14 kg; body fat %: 20 ± 4%) wore a global positional system device during all matches ( n = 17). External load metrics were total distance (TD) (m), sprint distance (>20.1 km·h -1 ), high-intensity distance (>18.1-20.0 km·h -1 ), meters per minute (m·min -1 ), acceleration efforts (#), deceleration efforts (#), sprint efforts (#), high-speed efforts (#), player load (PL) (arbitrary unit [AU]), PL per minute (AU/min), and estimated energy expenditure (EE) (kcal). Dietary intake was assessed at the start of the season using a 4-day food log. Linear mixed models examined changes in workload parameters across tournament matches. Spearman's rank correlation and linear regression assessed relationships and predictability of EE and external workloads. One-samples t test compared dietary intake relative to established guidelines ( p ≤ 0.05). No significant differences in workload metrics were observed across individual matches. Total distance ( r = 0.968, p < 0.001), m·min -1 ( r = 0.973, p < 0.001), PL ( r = 0.912, p < 0.001), and PL/min ( r = 0.855, p < 0.001) had the strongest correlations with EE. Players significantly underconsumed calories ( p = 0.028) and carbohydrates ( p < 0.01). Monitoring external workloads and assessing dietary intake can provide coaches with strategies to optimize sports performance and nutrition support to prepare players for competition demands.