INTERMITTENT PERFORMANCE IN YOUTH RUGBY UNION PLAYERS AND RELIABILITY OF THE GPS DEVICE TO ASSESS RSA WITH CHANGES IN DIRECTION

The aim of this study was to evaluate the intermittent performance in youth rugby union players and to check if changes exist throughout the season. Also check if the GPS devices can be a reliable alternative to photocells to asses RSA with change of direction. 15 youth rugby players have been employed for the study. The intermittent performance was assessed during the preseason through the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test 1 and RSA ("Shuttle Sprint Test"), during wich the players ran carrying a GPS device. The Yo-Yo test was administered again months later in the competitive period. There were significant differences bertween the distance covered by players in the Yo-Yo test during preseason compared to the competitive period (1376.7 +/- 427.2 vs. 1603.3 +/- 337 m, P < 0.01). In the RSA test, the group average for RSA(best) and RSA(mean) was 7.32 +/- 0.3 y 7.84 +/- 0.3 s, respectively. There were strong partial correlations between the distance covered in the Yo-Yo test and RSAmean, and almost perfect between the peaks of speed obtained through the GPS device and the time to cover distances in the RSA test. In conclusion, changes were produced in the intermittent performance of the players throughout the season, there were strong relations between the two tests administered to evaluate the intermittent performance, and GPS devices can be an alternative to the photocells to asses RSA with change of direction.