THE DIRECT INFLUENCES OF FLY-HALVES CONTRIBUTIONS ON WINNING AND LOSING

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Author
Messer, Louis
Date
2013Publisher
Cardiff Metropolitan University
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The purpose of the study was to analyse the attacking influence of a fly-half in
Rugby Union, to explore the influential effect on winning performances.
International fly-halves were examined from the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Twentyfour
matches were viewed to gather data on the attacking attributes (kick, run and
pass) of each fly-half. Performance indicators were devised to include the
attacking behaviours a fly-half performs, with a number of variables to break down
each skill. Additionally, ball possession was recorded to allow for accurate
analysis to standardise against time.
Intra-observer reliability tests were performed prior to the collection using Kappa
calculations. A very good strength of agreement was recorded for all components
(according to Altman, 1991). Inferential analysis of the statistics gathered during
coding was used in SPSS Statistics (Version 20). Exploratory tests were executed
for paired data using the Wilcoxon test to calculate any significant differences.
Overall, winning fly-halves displayed more contributions and played in the
attacking zones more often. These tests highlighted significant differences in the
total amount of fly-half possessions and the total amount of passes (p<0.05)
between winning and losing fly-halves (p<0.05). Six significant differences were
found involving the variable passing. The kicking and running variables didn’t
uncover any significant differences (p<0.05). However, winning fly-halves made
more kicks and runs throughout the process of coding. Additionally, there was a
significant difference in the amount of team time and number possessions won by
the winning teams (p<0.05). This provided more opportunities for the fly-halves to
influence the team attacks.
In conclusion, fly-halves make a substantial amount of contribution that can clearly
affect the match outcome, predominately in the areas of possessions and decision
making. The combination of the quality of contributions made by winning fly-halves
and overall team possession resulted in success at international rugby union.
They were efficient with possession they obtained too; echoing the literature by
Greenwood (2003), James et al. (2005) and Van den Berg and Malan (2010).
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