Position-specific workload and performance analysis in professional rugby union: Insights from global positioning system data and principal component analysis

Xiangyu Ren, Simon Boisbluche, Kilian Philippe, Mathieu Demy, Zhiwen Hu, Shuzhe Ding and Jacques Prioux

PLOS ONE, 2025, vol. 20, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: Quantifying workload and performance is a systematic approach employed by practitioners to enhance their understanding of the training process as a whole. This study aims to utilize data collected from global positioning system (GPS) and video analysis to assess the movement patterns and key performance indicators (KPIs) of players across various positions during both training and match play. Additionally, it seeks to simplify workload analysis by using principal component analysis (PCA) for dimensionality reduction. Over three seasons, data were collected from 63 professional rugby union players, divided into six positional groups: front row, second row, back row, scrum-half, inside backs, and outside backs. The results showed significant positional differences in movement characteristics (p

Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0332500

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0332500

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