Global practices of anthropometric and physical fitness testing in senior women's rugby union and rugby sevens: A scoping review

Abstract

The assessment and profiling of player's physical characteristics are currently receiving a greater amount of research attention and are important as they play a pivotal role in the research and development of sport. This review aims to assess and establish available literature on the testing protocols used to determine the anthropometric and physical fitness characteristics for women's sevens and fifteens rugby union players across different competitions globally. The review protocol followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist. A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus was conducted to identify relevant peer-reviewed studies published in English from the earliest record to February 18, 2025. Eligible studies focused on senior (>18 years) women's rugby players and explored anthropometric (e.g., body mass, height, skinfolds) and physical fitness characteristics (e.g., strength, speed, agility). Twenty-six studies met the inclusion criteria. Across these, 6 anthropometric and 26 physical fitness tests were identified in sevens rugby, and 15 anthropometric and 27 physical fitness tests in fifteens rugby. The most frequently used tests included body mass, standing height, sum of skinfolds, 1RM bench press, and countermovement jump. The findings indicate a wide variety and apparent inconsistencies of different tests and different outcome variables utilised. This variation highlights the lack of consensus regarding which anthropometric and physical fitness tests should be employed. This review could provide practitioners and researchers with valuable insight into anthropometric and physical fitness tests to guide future research and practice within women's rugby.