Home Advantage in the Six Nations Rugby Union Tournament

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether home advantage (HA), wherein a team is more likely to win, and by a larger margin, when they are playing at home vs away, exists in representative rugby competitions involving teams comprised of “all-star” players from several clubs. It also assesses whether referees are biased in favour of the home team, and whether this is the cause of HA. Design/methodology/approach – A complete consensus of matches from the State of Origin Rugby League and Tri Nations Rugby Union competitions were analysed via hierarchical regression models estimating parameters for favourite/underdog status of teams, general home/away status, team-specific home/away status, and rivalry-specific home/away status. Findings – Significant HA exists in both competitions, and within Tri Nations, the size of the effect varies by team and specific opponent (i.e. rivalry effects). Although there is evidence of referee bias in favour of the home team, the penalty differential between the home and away teams does not mediate HA. Originality/value – This is the first study examining HA in representative rugby league, and shows a statistically significant effect. Further, the results reported here refute an earlier investigation of the Tri Nations competition, which found little or no evidence of HA. By including a complete census of all matches rather than a small sample, this research finds a statistically significant HA effect, which varies by team and by specific rivalry.

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The Effect of Law Changes on the Lineout in Rugby Union with Regards to the Six Nations, Tri Nations, European Cup and Super 12 Competitions from 1999 to 2003

Journal of Applied Sports Science ◽

10.21608/jass.2011.84903 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 44-56

Keyword(s):

Rugby Union ◽

Six Nations

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Effect of the PreBind Engagement Process on Scrum Timing and Stability in the 2013–16 Six Nations

International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance ◽

10.1123/ijspp.2017-0531 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 903-909 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Edward J. Bradley ◽

Bob Hogg ◽

David T. Archer

Keyword(s):

Video Analysis ◽

Effect Size ◽

Contact Time ◽

High Energy ◽

Rugby Union ◽

Contact Duration ◽

Energy Impact ◽

Six Nations ◽

Engagement Process ◽

Improved Stability

This study examined whether changes in scrum engagement laws from the “crouch-touch-set” in 2013 to the “PreBind” engagement from 2014 onward have led to changes in scrum characteristics, specifically timing, in international rugby union. Duration and outcomes were identified for all scrums occurring in the 2013–16 Six Nations (N = 60 games) using video analysis. Scrum duration increased after the introduction of the PreBind engagement from 59 s in 2013 to 69 s in 2016 (P = .024, effect size = 0.93). A significant increase in mean contact duration per scrum occurred when prebinding was adopted (P < .05), moving from 7.5 s under the crouch-touch-set process to 8.5, 10.0, and 10.8 s with PreBind in 2014, 2015, and 2016 (effect size = 0.71, 2.05, and 3.0, respectively). The number of scrum resets and collapsed scrums, along with early engagement and pulling down infringements, was lower under the PreBind process. Overall, the PreBind engagement resulted in longer scrums with significant increases observed in overall and contact durations, with improved stability-related characteristics. The longer contact time is a consequence of increased stability with a shift from high-energy impact to a sustained push phase with a lower force that is a benefit to player welfare.

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Changes in northern hemisphere male international rugby union players’ body mass and height between 1955 and 2015

BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine ◽

10.1136/bmjsem-2018-000459 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. e000459 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Neil E Hill ◽

Sian Rilstone ◽

Michael J Stacey ◽

Dimitri Amiras ◽

Stephen Chew ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Mass ◽

Northern Hemisphere ◽

Injury Severity ◽

Mass Gain ◽

Rugby League ◽

Rugby Union ◽

The Body ◽

The Public ◽

Six Nations ◽

Rugby Players

ObjectivesWe sought to establish the effects of professionalism, which officially began in 1995, on the body mass and height of northern hemisphere male international rugby union (RU) players. We hypothesised that mass would significantly increase following professionalism. We also investigated the changes in size of players according to their playing position, and we compared changes to rugby league (RL) players and the public.MethodsThe body mass and height of players representing their international team for that country’s first game of the Five Nations in 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985 and 1995 and, for 2005 and 2015, the Six Nations, were collected from matchday programmes. RL players’ data were collected from the Challenge Cup final games played in the same years.ResultsInternational RU player body mass has significantly increased since 1995. In 1955 mean (±SD) player body mass was 84.8 kg (±8.2); in 2015, it was 105.4 kg (±12.1), an increase of 24.3%. Between 1955 and 2015, the body mass of forwards increased steadily, whereas that of backs has mostly gone up since 1995. RU player body mass gain has exceeded that of RL, but the age-matched difference between RU players and the public has remained relatively constant.ConclusionsThe factors influencing the gain in body mass of rugby players are legion; however, we believe that the interpretation of the law relating to the scrum put-in and changes allowing substitutions have, at least in part, contributed to the observed changes. Injury severity is increasing, and this may be linked to greater forces (caused by greater body mass) occurring in contact. RU law makers should adjust the rules to encourage speed and skill at the expense of mass.

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A Machine Learning Approach to Analyze Home Advantage during COVID-19 Pandemic Period with Regards to Margin of Victory and to Different Tournaments in Professional Rugby Union Competitions

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182312711 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (23) ◽

pp. 12711

Author(s):

Alexandru Nicolae Ungureanu ◽

Corrado Lupo ◽

Paolo Riccardo Brustio

Keyword(s):

Southern Hemisphere ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Team Sports ◽

Rugby Union ◽

Chi Square ◽

System Perspective ◽

Home Team ◽

Interaction Detection ◽

Wide Range ◽

Home Advantage

Home advantage (HA) is the tendency for sporting teams to perform better at their home ground than away from home, it is also influenced by the crowd support, and its existence has been well established in a wide range of team sports including rugby union. Among all the HA determinants, the positive contribute of the crowd support on the game outcome can be analyzed in the unique pandemic situation of COVID-19. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the HA of professional high-level rugby club competition from a complex dynamical system perspective before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. HA was analyzed in northern and southern hemisphere rugby tournaments with (2013–2019) and without (2020/21) crowd support by the means of the exhaustive chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID) decision trees (DT). HA was mitigated by the crowd absence especially in closed games, although differences between tournaments emerged. Both for northern and southern hemisphere, the effect of playing without the crowd support had a negative impact on the home team advantage. These findings evidenced that in ghost games, where differences in the final score were less than a converted try (7 points), HA has disappeared.

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The COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Away and Home Victories in Soccer and Rugby Union

Frontiers in Sports and Active Living ◽

10.3389/fspor.2021.695922 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Adrien Sedeaud ◽

Quentin De Larochelambert ◽

Julien Schipman ◽

Jean-Francois Toussaint

Keyword(s):

Rugby Union ◽

Chi Square ◽

Test Of Independence ◽

Professional Soccer ◽

Two Samples ◽

Home Advantage ◽

Chi Square Test ◽

The Impact ◽

At Home

Objective: To measure the impact of restrictions due to COVID on the proportion of matches won at home, away and draw in professional soccer and rugby union.Materials and Methods: Two samples of professional soccer and rugby union matches were collected from 2012–13 to 2020–21 seasons. For soccer, data involved first and second division matches of the England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Scotland, Greece, Portugal, and Turkey championships. For rugby union, championships concerned are Premiership Rugby, Celtic League, Top 14, and Pro D2. The proportions of home, away wins and draw were calculated and compared. A chi-square test of independence between years and types of result was realized to identify an overall inhomogeneity.Results: The proportion of away matches won between the 2012–13 and 2020–21 seasons increased significantly from 28.5 ± 1.2% to 32.5 ± 1.5% in soccer and from 38.0 ± 3.6% to 42.8 ± 5.0% in rugby union. In Premiership Rugby championship, the victory percentage at home dropped from 55.8 ± 3.1% when tifosi were present to 45.8 ± 12.8% when they were not.Conclusion: The home advantage was drastically reduced in empty stadiums for several European soccer and rugby union professional championships. It vanished in the Premiership Rugby and Celtic League during the 2020–21 season.

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