Amayo, J and Tierney, GJ orcid.org/0000-0002-4666-4473 (2020) Does tackle height influence offload success in rugby union? Analysis from the 2019 Rugby World Cup. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching. p. 174795412097366. ISSN 1747-9541
Abstract
Offloads are an effective way of breaking through a defensive line in rugby union. Higher tackle heights are considered an effective strategy to defend against offloads. However, in a bid to reduce head injuries, there is a cultural shift within the rules of the game to tackle lower down on the body. This study used match video analysis of ten games from the 2019 Rugby World Cup to investigate whether tackle height influences offload success for the ball carrier. Each legal tackle was categorised based on tackle height (e.g. shoulder), player body position (e.g. upright), tackle type (e.g. shoulder tackle), tackle direction (e.g. front on) and player position (e.g. tight forwards). For each characteristic, the Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were calculated based on offload success outcome. Tackles at the hip (OR = 1.81, 95% CI 1.10 to 2.96, p = 0.018) and upper leg (OR = 1.94, 95% CI 1.30 to 2.90, p = 0.001) had a greater propensity to result in offload success while tackles at shoulder height reduced offload success (OR = 0.09, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.22, p < 0.001). A bent at the waist tackler against an upright ball carrier had a greater propensity to result in offload success (OR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.19 to 2.54, p = 0.004). Tackling lower increased the chances of offload success for the ball carrier. The cultural shift towards lower tackle heights is likely to result in an increased number of offloads and it is up to players, coaches and defensive systems to be able to adapt to this.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Keywords: | Performance analysis, rugby union, video analysis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Biomedical Sciences (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 25 Nov 2020 12:26 |
Last Modified: | 25 Nov 2020 12:26 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/1747954120973660 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:168290 |