Anthropometric and Physiological Characteristics of Japanese Elite Women’s Rugby Sevens Players

The movement profiles of field-based team sports players (e.g., rugby, soccer, and field hockey) fluctuate randomly depending on the game situation, and can include brief periods of high intensity, and longer periods of low intensity, movement. Several studies have investigated the match-play demands of field-based team sports (Gabbett, 2010; King et al., 2009; Mohr et al., 2003; Mohr et al., 2008; Spencer et al., 2004). It has been reported that elite women’s field hockey players cover 6.6 km over the course of a match and spend 2.7% of total match play in high intensity activities (Gabbett, 2010). Elite women’s soccer players have been reported to cover 9–11 km over the course of a match and spend almost 7.0% of total match time in high intensity activities (Mohr et al., 2008). Regulations (e.g., match duration, field size, equipment, etc.) differ between field-based team sports, and thus the physiological demands of different sports also differ. Women’s rugby sevens will be a new inclusion in the 2016 summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and is one of the fastest growing sports worldwide. The basic rules of rugby sevens are the same as for rugby fifteens matches, except for the shorter match duration (i.e., 7-min halves with a 1-min halftime). Suarez-Arrones et al. (2012) reported that women’s rugby sevens players covered an average distance of around 1500 m per 14-min match, with 9% of the time spent in high-intensity activity (> 18 km/h-1). King et al. (2009) reported that Australia’s National Rugby League fifteens players covered an average of around 6000 m per 80-min match. Rugby sevens is played with fewer athletes per team (e.g., soccer and field hockey have 11 players per side) and for a shorter length of time (e.g., soccer, 45-min halves; field hockey, 35-min halves) than many other sports. However, the size of the rugby sevens playing field is similar to that of other field-based team sports Anthropometric and Physiological Characteristics of Japanese Elite Women’s Rugby Sevens Players