With COVID-19 still disrupting training and coaches looking to plan for returning to play, I thought I would share my UKSCA presentation which I recently passed. I used an example at Heriots Rugby and shows our return to play program in the aim of playing back in October. I'm keen to share this to help any other coaches and to create any discussion/feedback for myself and see if there is other things I could have done to improve on this. Really keen to start sharing more work and see how I can improve and changes things from feedback!

1. UKSCA CASE
STUDY
Jordan Welsh
Heriots Rugby & Fettes College
Strength and Conditioning

2. Athlete
• Josh Scott
• 25 years old
• Tighthead Prop
• Heriots Super 6 Rugby (Semi
Professional league Scotland)
• Extensive training age (Competitive
swimmer as youth and 5+ years
Rugby experience)
• Current status – Return to play
following COVID-19 lockdown

3. Needs Analysis- Rugby Union
• High-intensity, intermittent contact sport (Smart, 2011) characterised by acceleration, sprinting, ball carrying and
tackling.
• Interspersed by walking or jogging to reposition (Duthie et al., 2006)
• Players typically cover 5000-7000m per game (Cahill et al., 2013)
• Strength between Professional and Semi professional Rugby players is shown to be similar (Argus, Gill and Keogh,
2012)
• Comparing Super 6 to Pro 14, professional teams appear to do less work than Super 6 but work at significantly
higher intensities (Tierney, 2017)

4. Long term Plan
• AIM - RTP following
COVID lockdown and
restrictions
• Proposed by SRU to begin
first competitive game of
Super 6 season 31st
October
• 4 week self preparation
period
• 12 week preparation phase
before game 1

5. Long Term Plan

6. Pre training results
Test Pre
Weight (kg) (February) 117.8
Bronco (26th Sept) 6.14

7. Preparation Phase
Aim - complete and develop aerobic base in
order to return to training
How – prescribed running sessions from
previous results & in addition road bike
sessions to inhibit aerobic development
(Strava)
Why – to reduce injury on returning to training,
allow all players to return at a minimal level
COVID-19 – Unable to train as bubbles or
squad
WHY MAS?
• Aerobic base
• Complete higher intensities of work
• Simple to complete
• More beneficial than long distance runs
(Baker 2011)

8. Bubble training
• Commenced 4th August first night (30 minute running
with 15 minute staggered starts)
• Reintroduce high intensity running, Speed and COD
• High speed running exposure managed carefully
• No rapid increase in speed training load to avoid soft
tissue (Stokes et al., 2020)
• Introduction to rugby based components (movement up
and down from ground repeatedly)
• Post Session weight exercises (outdoor) along with a
injury prevention program (Haroy et al., 2018, Peterson
et al., 2011)
• Hypertrophy to promote muscle growth and mass
(Stokes et al., 2020)
• Sports train app to assess RPE and track attendance
for COVID-19
• Weight check-in prior to every session
• Morning wellness to assess fatigue & COVID -19
symptoms

9. Bubble training
Exposure to increasing sprint distances and volume (Stokes et al., 2020)
Using Tempo to increase Time under tension – limited period of time to work post training –
increase muscle mass in short time period (Burd et al.,2011)
SPEED & DRILLS WERE ADAPTED

10. Bubble training Monitoring
• Increase in intensity (RPE)
• Increase in Load (Metres covered)
• The third session was less intense and incorporated more skill
exercises where possible

11. Training
Drop sets stimulating muscle growth. Willardson, 2007
Supersets to maintain hypertrophy (Schoenfeld, 2011)
Once training in a group, building intensity (speed,
COD sharpness, Agility) Stokes et al., 2020
Coach opportunity to introduce systems of play

12. Results
Test Pre Post
Weight (kg)
(February)
117.8
Weight (kg)
(September)
112.3
Bronco (26th Sept
2019)
6.14
Bronco (11th Aug) 5.03
Bronco (8th Sept) 5.01
Bronco times compared to Professional teams:
Scotland National team Prop (4.35 – 5.24) (min-max)
Newcastle Falcons – 18/19 (4.53 – 5.22) (min – max) (4G surface)
Doncaster Knights – 17/18 (5.27 – 6.23) (min-max)

13. Reflections
• Significant improvement in aerobic conditioning
• Completed all training with no injury
• Weights sessions post training could have been altered but with limited time, space
and equipment this covered all aspects (hypertrophy, plyo, core)
• Large aspect to improve was conditioning
• Positionally, Josh will need to be stronger and more time could be focused in this
area (Hall and Eager, 2020) (Season 19/20 1rm Bench press – 135kg, Squat 180kg)
• Nutritional plan to aid increased muscle mass and weight
• Would have been on track to play in pre-season fixtures (results, visual, verbal)
• COVID stopped training
• Work and Accountancy exams

15. References
• Argus, C., Gill, N. and Keogh, J., 2012. Characterization of the Differences in Strength and Power Between Different Levels of Competition in Rugby
Union Athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26(10), pp.2698-2704.
• Burd, N.A., Andrews, R.J., West, D.W.D., Little, J.P., Cochran, A.J.R., Hector, A.J., Cashaback, J.G.A., Gibala, M.J., Potvin, J.R., Baker, S.K. and Phillips,
S.M. (2012). Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The
Journal of Physiology, 590(2), pp.351–362.
• Cahill, N., Lamb, K., Worsfold, P., Headey, R. and Murray, S., 2013. The movement characteristics of English Premiership rugby union players. Journal of
Sports Sciences, 31(3), pp.229-237.
• DUTHIE, G., PYNE, D., MARSH, D. and HOOPER, S., 2006. SPRINT PATTERNS IN RUGBY UNION PLAYERS DURING COMPETITION. Journal of
Strength and Conditioning Research, 20(1), pp.208-214.
• Harøy, J., Clarsen, B., Wiger, E., Øyen, M., Serner, A., Thorborg, K., Hölmich, P., Andersen, T. and Bahr, R., 2018. The Adductor Strengthening
Programme prevents groin problems among male football players: a cluster-randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(3), pp.150-
157.
• Petersen, J., Thorborg, K., Nielsen, M., Budtz-Jørgensen, E. and Hölmich, P., 2011. Preventive Effect of Eccentric Training on Acute Hamstring Injuries in
Men’s Soccer. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 39(11), pp.2296-2303.
• Schoenfeld, B.J. (2011) The use of specialized training techniques to maximize muscle hypertrophy. Strength and Conditioning Journal 33 (4) pp. 60-65
DOI: 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3182221ec2
• Smart, D. (2011) Physical Profiling of Rugby Union Players: Implications for Talent Development. Auckland University of Technology
• Stokes, K., Jones, B., Bennett, M., Close, G., Gill, N., Hull, J., Kasper, A., Kemp, S., Mellalieu, S., Peirce, N., Stewart, B., Wall, B., West, S. and Cross,
M., 2020. Returning to Play after Prolonged Training Restrictions in Professional Collision Sports. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 41(13),
pp.895-911.
• Tierney P, Tobin DP, Blake C, Delahunt E. Attacking 22 entries in rugby union: running demands and differences between successful and unsuccessful
entries. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. 2017; 27: 1934-1941
• Willardson JM. The application of training to failure in periodized multiple-set resistance exercise programs. J Strength Cond Res 21: 628–631, 2007.