Power in Rugby: How to Train It, Test It and Use It

Where does power show up in a rugby match?

Power shows up wherever the game is decided in a fraction of a second:

• The first three steps. Most sprints in rugby are short, so most races are won or lost before top speed: off the line in defence, onto the ball in attack.
• The tackle. The player who gets their force on first wins the contact, and with it the gain line.
• The carry. Leg drive through contact is power: the half-metre after the hit that turns a stalled carry into a gain.
• The scrum. The engagement is a collision between two packs, and the one that gets its force on first sets the platform.
• The lineout. The jumper’s leap and the lifters’ drive happen in a split second, before the opposition can get up to contest.
• The breakdown. Clearing out and getting over the ball are short, explosive efforts, repeated all game.

Strength or power: which do rugby players need first?

Strength comes first, because power is strength used quickly, and you cannot use force you do not have. A player who is not yet strong gets more powerful just by lifting heavy. A player who is already strong needs dedicated power work to use that strength in the time a game allows.

That is why a rugby year moves from strength to power: build the engine in the off-season, teach it to fire in pre-season, and keep it sharp in season. It is also why week 3 of our four-week rugby workout plan is the POWER week: the weight comes off so the bar can move. The heavy lifts that build the strength underneath are in the rugby gym program.

How do you test power for rugby?

You test power for rugby with four simple tests you can repeat: a jump for height, a jump for distance, a short sprint and a throw. Run them after the same warm-up, on the same surface and at the same time of day, take the best of three, and retest every four to six weeks.

One test day is a snapshot, and a small change can be day-to-day noise, so look for the trend across two or three test days. If your gym has a device that measures bar speed, use it to end each set when the bar slows down. Without one, end the set when you see a rep slow down. These four tests measure power, not fitness; for fitness, time a Bronco with our free Bronco test timer.

What are the best power exercises for rugby?

The best power exercises for rugby come from four families: jumps (coaches call them plyometrics), Olympic lifts or simpler swaps for them, medicine-ball throws, and upper-body power. Pick one or two from each family, keep every set to a few fast reps, rest fully, and stop the set the moment it slows.

Olympic lifts are worth learning if someone can coach you through them. The trap-bar jump and the kettlebell swing give you the same hip drive with almost nothing to learn. Whichever you pick, learn to land before you jump high: land quietly, with your knees over your toes and your hips back, and step down from the box rather than jumping down.

How much power training should you do in each phase of the season?

Power work is short and sharp in every phase. What changes through the season is how much of it there is and where it sits in the week.

In season, put the bigger power session early in the week, furthest from the match, and keep a short primer of a few jumps and strides for a day or two before kick-off. How the rest of the week fits around it is set out in the rugby training program, and the eight weeks that lead into round one are in rugby pre-season training.

How does power training change by position?

Power training changes by position in emphasis, not in structure: every position jumps, throws and lifts fast, and what moves is where the extra work goes. Elite Rugby App programs six position groups, and the table below shows what each one leans into.

Not sure which group you belong in? Find the position your body suits first, then take its row above. The full programs for each group live in the position-specific gym programs inside the app.

Two rugby power workouts to try

These are two single-day workouts built from the menu above, at about its pre-season doses. Run the lower-body workout early in the week and the upper-body one midweek, at least two days apart. In season, cut each one to the in-season sets in the menu.

Workout 1: lower-body power, about 55 minutes

1. Warm-up: 10 min. Skips, leg swings, 2 × 10 pogo hops and three build-up runs over 20 m.
2. Box jump: 4 × 3, rest 90 s. Jump up, land soft and quiet, then step down. Never jump down.
3. Hang power clean, or trap-bar jump: 5 × 3, rest 2 to 3 min. Every rep fast. When the bar slows, the set is over.
4. Back squat into broad jump: 3 rounds, rest 3 min between rounds. Three heavy but clean squats, a minute's rest, then three broad jumps while the legs are switched on.
5. Lateral bound: 4 × 3 each side, rest 60 s. Stick every landing for a second before the next bound.
6. Nordic hamstring curl: 3 × 5. Lower yourself as slowly as you can. The hamstring is where a fast player's season ends.

Workout 2: upper-body power, about 50 minutes

1. Warm-up: 8 min. Band pull-aparts, push-ups and light throws against a wall.
2. Med-ball chest throw: 4 × 4, rest 60 s. Throw it hard into a wall. Catch, reset, throw again.
3. Push press: 5 × 3, rest 2 min. Dip and drive with the legs. The arms only finish the job.
4. Rotational med-ball throw: 4 × 4 each side, rest 60 s. Turn from the back foot and the hips, not the arms.
5. Weighted chin-up: 4 × 4, rest 2 min. Pulling keeps the shoulders healthy against all that pushing.
6. Neck and trunk: 10 min. Every week, in every phase. It is not optional in a collision sport.

Every rep in both workouts should be fast. If you are too tired to move quickly, finish the session there: a slow rep trains you to be slow.

What are the most common power training mistakes?

• Doing it tired. Power work after conditioning, or at the end of a heavy session, becomes more conditioning. Do it first, straight after the warm-up.
• Too many reps. By the eighth jump of a set you are training to be slow. Three to five fast reps, then stop.
• Not resting enough. Thirty seconds between sets of cleans turns a power set into a fitness set. Rest two to three minutes so every rep is quick.
• Chasing the number on the bar. A clean that grinds up is a strength lift with poor technique. Take weight off until it moves fast again.
• Jumping before you can land. Learn to land quietly, knees over toes and hips back, before you add height, distance or a load.
• Dropping it in season. Stop power work in season and your pop fades as the weeks go on. One short session a week keeps it.

Where to find out more

World Rugby publishes a free conditioning course on World Rugby Passport, including its page on power. On this site, the next steps are the four-week rugby workout plan with its free PDF, the lifts, sets and reps behind the strength work and conditioning that looks like the game.

Frequently asked questions