Physical fitness of elite women's rugby union players over a ...

2.4.2 Stature
There is a clear distinction in stature (standing height) between male forwards and backs at
junior (Durandt et al., 2006) and professional level (Duthie et al., 2003). Interestingly, a data
analysis of New Zealand Rugby Players between 1972 and 2004 shows, that forwards have
become slightly shorter whereas backline players have become taller (Quarrie & Hopkins,
2007). It has been speculated that the decrease in stature of the forwards coincides with the
introduction of the law permitting lineout jumpers to be supported in the lineout as this law
allows good lifters to overcome slight disadvantages in the stature of the jumper.
In contrast to male players, numerous studies have demonstrated that senior and school girl’s
forwards and backs have similar stature (Table II) (Kirby & Reilly, 1993; Quarrie et al., 1995;
Sedlock, Fitzgerald, & Knowlton, 1988). Recent literature has shown that both elite women’s
rugby union forwards are significantly taller than backs (Schick et al., 2008). It would appear
that players in the forwards need to be tall to contest aerial possession of the ball in line-outs.
2.4.3 Sum of Skinfolds
The majority of anthropometric assessments of rugby players have involved quantifying the
body fat levels (Duthie et al., 2003). The calculation of percentage body fat is problematic,
due to limitations in establishing percentage body from estimates of body density and skinfold
measurements (Martin, Ross, Drinkwater, & Clarys, 1985) and the measurement error of
different methods and prediction equations (Duthie et al., 2006a). Given these concerns, it is
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