Disentangling Gender and Relative Age Effects in Women’s and Girls’ Rugby Union

Kelly, Adam L. and Coutinho, Diogo and Radnor, John M. and Burke, Kate and Barrell, Donald and Jackson, Daniel and Brustio, Paolo R. (2024) Disentangling Gender and Relative Age Effects in Women’s and Girls’ Rugby Union. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 9 (2). p. 61. ISSN 2411-5142

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Abstract

Relative age effects (RAEs) within sports refer to the overrepresentation of athletes born earlier in the selection year and the underrepresentation of those born later in the selection year. Research examining RAEs in women’s and girls’ rugby union remains limited in comparison to the male literature, whilst the impacts of RAEs on the youth–senior transition are yet to be explored in a female sport context. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine RAEs during entry into the women’s and girls’ premiership and international rugby union pathways in England, as well as to compare them to their respective senior cohort (n = 1367): (a) U18 England Rugby Centre of Excellence Player (n = 325) vs. Senior Premiership Player (n = 868), and (b) U18 England Player (n = 49) vs. Senior England Player (n = 125). Chi-square (χ2) analyses compared birth quarter (BQ) distributions against expected distributions. The findings revealed no significant difference in BQ distributions at either youth or senior levels, as well as no significant differences in the BQ distributions of those who were likely to transition from youth to senior levels (all p > 0.05). Importantly, though, descriptive statistics showed a skewed birthdate distribution in both U18 England Rugby Centre of Excellence Player (BQ1 = 30% vs. BQ4 = 20%) and U18 England Player cohorts (BQ1 = 33% vs. BQ4 = 18%). We highlight the gender-specific mechanisms that potentially explain the variations between male and female RAEs in rugby union, including developmental differences, sport popularity, and sociocultural norms. We also warn against a ‘copy and paste’ template from the male provision to ensure the recent growth of female rugby union does not fall victim to the same RAEs in the future.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.3390/jfmk9020061
Dates:	Date Event 27 March 2024 Accepted 29 March 2024 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	talent identification, talent development, athlete development, age grouping, youth rugby, rugby football union, female rugby, female sport
Subjects:	CAH03 - biological and sport sciences > CAH03-02 - sport and exercise sciences > CAH03-02-01 - sport and exercise sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences > College of Life Sciences
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	29 Jul 2025 10:14
Last Modified:	29 Jul 2025 10:14
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16539

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