Morphological characteristics, assessment of hypermobility and pain threshold of rugby players

Body build is an important factor in achieving success in sport. One sport that is less investigated, in terms of player morphological characteristics, is rugby 7s. Rugby 7s with 7 players in a team was derived from the classical Rugby Union with 15 players. A team of rugby 7s consists of scrum and offensive formations. As a contact sport, rugby carries the risk of numerous injuries for its players. The aim of the study was the morphological characterization and assessment of body composition, hypermobility and pain threshold of rugby players, taking into account their tasks and position on the pitch during the game. The research carried out in Kaskada Szczecin team showed that the scrum players obtained considerably higher statistically significant values of body weight, BMI, fat content percentage as well as chest depth than the offensive players, who obtained statistically significantly higher values of muscle tissue percentage. The examined rugby players had a high pain threshold, however, no statistically significant differences between both rugby formations were found in the assessment of the pain threshold. The occurrence of hypermobility in the studied group of rugby players was determined at only 3.8%. Identification of potential factors such as pain threshold or hypermobility can provide additional information for trainers and physiotherapists, helping to minimize the risk of injury.