ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2018
Changes in northern hemisphere male international rugby union players' body mass and height between 1955 and 2015.
Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Shoulder injuries in rugby union: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2026Pooled it
- Women's 2023 and 2024 WXV international rugby competitions: injury surveillance study.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Seasonal Body Composition Changes in Elite Rugby Players: DXA and Anthropometry-Based Comparison of Backs and Forwards.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Trends in body mass between finalist teams in the Japanese collegiate rugby union championship: a 15-year analysis.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Energy Balance and Dietary Intake in Young Rugby Players during a Pre-Season Micro-Cycle: A Cluster Analysis.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Protect the Player, Protect the Game: Reflections from Ex-Professional Rugby Union Players on Law Changes, Protective Equipment, and Duty of Care in the Professional Game.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2022Article
- A game for all shapes and sizes? Changes in anthropometric and performance measures of elite professional rugby union players 1999-2018.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2022Article
- Magnetic Resonance Arthrography in Rugby Players Undergoing Shoulder Stabilization for Glenohumeral Instability: Professionals Have Higher Frequencies of More Pathologies.Arthroscopy, sports medicine, and rehabilitation · 2021Article
- Genetic Factors That Could Affect Concussion Risk in Elite Rugby.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Trends in player body mass at men's and women's Rugby World Cups: a plateau in body mass and differences in emerging rugby nations.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2021Article
- Challenges and [Possible] Solutions to Optimizing Talent Identification and Development in Sport.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesWe sought to establish the effects of professionalism, which officially began in 1995, on the body mass and height of northern hemisphere male international rugby union (RU) players. We hypothesised that mass would significantly increase following professionalism. We also investigated the changes in size of players according to their playing position, and we compared changes to rugby league (RL) players and the public.
methodsThe body mass and height of players representing their international team for that country's first game of the Five Nations in 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985 and 1995 and, for 2005 and 2015, the Six Nations, were collected from matchday programmes. RL players' data were collected from the Challenge Cup final games played in the same years.
resultsInternational RU player body mass has significantly increased since 1995. In 1955 mean (±SD) player body mass was 84.8 kg (±8.2); in 2015, it was 105.4 kg (±12.1), an increase of 24.3%. Between 1955 and 2015, the body mass of forwards increased steadily, whereas that of backs has mostly gone up since 1995. RU player body mass gain has exceeded that of RL, but the age-matched difference between RU players and the public has remained relatively constant.
conclusionsThe factors influencing the gain in body mass of rugby players are legion; however, we believe that the interpretation of the law relating to the scrum put-in and changes allowing substitutions have, at least in part, contributed to the observed changes. Injury severity is increasing, and this may be linked to greater forces (caused by greater body mass) occurring in contact. RU law makers should adjust the rules to encourage speed and skill at the expense of mass.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.