SW Rugby Academy

Fitness & Tests

Rugby Fitness & Tests

Here are activities to challenge your general fitness for rugby!

Bronco Test

The Bronco Test comes from New Zealand and has been tested by some of the top rugby players. It’s a shuttle run for total time. You need cones at 20, 40 and 60m and perform shuttles there and back to each distance. That’s one set and you do 5 of those. Here’s the real kicker though; there’s no rest between!

Standards:

Performance Benchmarks (Rugby)

Elite/Professional: Sub 4:30 – 4:50 minutes.
Good: Under 5:30 minutes.
Amateur: 5:30 to 6:00 minutes depending on position.

WAT Test

The WAT Test or the Welsh Anaerobic Test was developed by the WRU to test the fitness of it’s international players. It’s a good choice of test as it includes change of direction and getting off the floor which make it a bit more rugby specific than other tests. It also includes rest periods to better mimic the demands of rugby. You need cones at 0m, 2m, 5m and 15m. Perform a Down Up at cone A, then run a figure 8 round cones B and C, sprint to Cone D and then back to the start. Record Time! Perform one rep every 40s for 10 reps total. Add your time of each rep to get a total.

Standards

Backs: 131-138s

Forwards: 136-150s

10x100m (1km!)

This is the easiest to setup as you just run from try line to try line. Do it 10 times and record the total time taken. No rest, just run! Simple and effective, it gives you an indication of you or your player’s aerobic ability. It's at Gloucester Rugby as a pass/fail on the players returning from the offseason. You don’t want to fail it!

Standards

Backs: 3:10 – 3:20

Forwards: 3:20 – 3:45

Bleep test/Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test : Measures a player’s ability to perform repeated high-intensity runs with short rest intervals. Purpose: Evaluates aerobic capacity and recovery ability in stop-and-go sports.

Test Structure: Cones set at 0m, 5m, and 25m. The player runs 20m (back to start), then has 10 seconds to jog 5m back and 5m forward for recovery.

Levels: Level 1 (beginners/recreational) starts at 10km/h; Level 2 (elite) starts at 13km/h.

Termination: The test ends when the athlete fails to reach the line on consecutive beeps.

Common Scores (Level 1):

Males: Average around 16–17+.

Females: Average around 12–13+

Vertical Jump: Assesses leg explosive power.
The broad jump, or standing long jump, is a plyometric exercise used to measure and develop explosive horizontal leg power, requiring a two-footed jump for maximum distance.