Rugby: Club cautious over coaching methods study

Mar 18 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON Rugby Club this week gave a cautious welcome to research by the University of the West of Scotland into current coaching methods.

However, the Laigh Bent club insists that time and financial constraints mean the ideas are unlikely to be utilised at the moment.

The research is a collaboration between UWS, who have a Hamilton campus on the site of the former Bell College, and the Welsh Rugby Union, and highlighted the need for different position-specific agility and speed training strategies.

The study involved 19 players competing in the Welsh Rugby Union Division Five East League, who underwent a series of agility and sprint-related training programmes over a competitive season.

The research was headed up by Professor Julien Baker, head of UWS’s exercise and health sciences research unit, who is based at the Hamilton campus.

He said: “Clearly in the modern game there is a need for all positions to share core skills, and one of the most important in breaking down defences is speed and agility.

“In recent years, there has been a move in rugby coaching towards implementing the same sprint and agility training regimes for both backs and forwards.

“However, our research clearly indicates that this approach is ineffectual and there is a need to develop position-specific training to enhance speed and agility across all 15 players.”

Commenting on the research, Hamilton head coach Stuart Eynon said: “This research seems to reflect the new era of rugby and a swing to more position-specific needs.

“On a professional level, this has been easily undertaken due to the appointment of specific coaches to cover different areas, such as attack, defence, kicking, scrummage, forwards, backs, strength and nutrition, and the effects of this can be seen during games – particularly in the increased mobility and handling skills levels in the forwards.

“However, in the semi-professional and amateur game this is more difficult to achieve, due to lack of coaching resource and facilities.

“Our intention is to lay the foundations and get the players to accept responsibility on what they have to do personally to improve their own game.”