Identifying the effectiveness of a chop tackle in elite and semi-professional rugby union

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analysis how effective a chop tackle was between two different levels of rugby union. The analysis was conducted from ten Rugby World Cup games in 2011 and ten Principality Welsh Premiership games from the recent season 2012/13. A specific design was implemented to collect the relevant data on different variables to create specific performance indicators. The analysis was conducted using a hand notation system as each game was observed using different performance indicators to code the data. A Mann Whitney U test was used to compare the variables between RWC and WP. A Wilcoxon test was then used to compare the differences of chop with other types of tackles at the different levels. P values that are less than 0.05 were deemed to be significant. The 125 average tackles per team for a match performed in the RWC were significantly greater than 88 tackles in WP (p<0.05). 31% of tackles in RWC were chop which was significantly greater than 22% in WP (p<0.05). At both levels a chop tackle lead to significantly more turnovers than other types of tackles, it also lead to a significantly greater percentage of unsuccessful outcomes than other tackles (p < 0.05) . Therefore a chop tackle is considered a high risk performance but it leads to a greater chance in turning the ball over. This skill should be implemented as part of the team’s tactics when they need to take risks to provide a higher chance of getting the ball back.