The development of excellence in team sports such as rugby union is not yet fully understood and to date, the understanding of factors predicting progression in rugby is unknown. This thesis builds on the existing research exploring the multidisciplinary factors which underpin the development of excellence in sport (Doherty et al., 2018; Gulbin et al., 2013; Güllich et al., 2019; Lovell et al., 2017; Tribolet et al., 2018). In it we take a multidisciplinary approach to exploring the psychosocial factors important to the development of excellence in some of the best rugby union players in the world, the multidisciplinary factors which influence progression through the RFU’s development pathway and the influence of personal factors on the efficacy of constraints-led training.
The thesis consists of a general introduction (Chapter 1), four empirical studies (Chapters 2, 3 and 4), and a general discussion (Chapter 5). More specifically, Chapter 2 (Study 1) presents an in-depth qualitative investigation of the psychosocial factors underpinning success and development in rugby union. We conducted in-depth retrospective interviews (lasting 32 hours in total and producing over 300,000 words of text) with former world’s best International male rugby union players (N = 5) and their nominated coaches (N = 5). Interviews covered early critical developmental experiences, personality, relationships, and training behaviours. Abductive thematic analysis revealed commonalities, which are discussed under three main headings: 1) Formative Experiences, 2) Personality, and 3) Training Behaviours. The findings from Study 1 suggest early negative experiences, particularly disruptions to parental relationships, and the realisation of insecure attachment, coupled with a positive sport related event, may underpin the drive and development of the necessary personality traits and behaviours to achieve excellence in rugby.
Chapter 3 presents two longitudinal studies (Studies 2 and 3) which examined the factors predicting progression in rugby. We employed a multidisciplinary approach and using pattern recognition analysis we aimed to identify the psychosocial, demographic, and practice and training factors which differentiated between players who progressed, and players who failed to progress, at two key stages along the pathway, from U18’s to U20’s (Study 2) and from age grade rugby to the premiership (Study 3). Findings in these studies indicated that a variety of psychosocial, demographic, and practice and training factors were able to differentiate between groups who were and were not progressing. In particular, results indicated that players who progress at both stages undertook fewer hours of constraints-led practice suggesting there may currently be too much challenge and not enough support within practice at present. Further, in Study 2, those players progressing appeared to demonstrate a number of highly desirable psychosocial characteristics (e.g., mastery orientation, commitment to training), yet those progressing in Study 3 had a psychosocial profile that was potentially more challenging for coaches and managers to work with. In addition, findings suggest that the RFU may be using current performance as an indicator of future potential, which could present a risk to coaches and the RFU in the loss of talented players early in the pathway.
Chapter 4 presents a study (Study 4) which explored the influence of avoidant attachment styles (dismissive and fearful) and ASD traits (systemising and empathy) on the effects of CL practice on progression through the RFU Development pathway. We re-used some of the data collected in Studies 2 and 3 but subjected these data to a different and comprehensive set of analyses to explore the research question. Findings revealed that increases in the percentage of CL practice were associated with greater decreases in the likelihood of progression when dismissive avoidant attachment was high than when it was low. Conversely, increases in CL practice predicted a greater increase in the likelihood of progression when fearful avoidant attachment was high, as opposed to when it was low. No interaction was found between systemising and CL practice in relation to progression. Finally, analyses revealed that lower levels of CL practice were associated with an increase in the likelihood of progression when empathy was high. These findings provide initial support for the suggestion that not all individuals will benefit from CL practice to the same extent and provide support to the notion that individual differences may influence the effects of certain training protocols on performance.
A summary of the empirical findings from these four studies are then discussed in Chapter 5, along with the theoretical and applied implications of this research. Strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are also discussed.