Presentation

Unit 5 Research Project
Worthing College Sports Science
Liam Lee
2015

‘To investigate the affect of
premiership standard back 5
forward height and the amount of
lineouts won per game.’
P2: Carry out / P4: Produce

Abstract
The aim of my study was to investigate the relationship between the
height of the starting back five forwards in elite level male rugby and
their lineout success rate. The study had a sample size of 80 male
professional rugby players who were involved in the Aviva rugby
premiership season between 2014-2015. the data for the study was
collected using the Aviva rugby premiership website for games 1,7,15
and 18. The data collected was shown using excel on a spearmint rank
order correlation and on a scatter graph. The results on the spearman
correlation showed that there was very little correlation between the
height and lineout success rate. One thing to look into in the future
would be the hookers throwing technique and if it affects accuracy and
another would be to look at the height of the lifters in the lineout as
they can have a huge part on the height of the lift.

Contents: General
Page 2 – Aim
Page 3– Abstract
Page 4– General contents
Page 5 – Contents appendices
Page 6– Contents figures and tables
Page 7 – Acknowledgments
Page 8 – Introduction
Page 9 – Literature review and references
Page 10 – Project hypothesis
Page 11– Method
Page 12– Data collection
Page 13 – Data analysis
Page 14– Results
Page 15– Discussion
Page 16– Conclusion
Page 17– Assessment criteria page 19-26
Page 18– Review 1/3
Page 19 Review 2/3
Page 20 – Review 3/3
Page 21– Future recommendations 1/5
Page 24- Future recommendations 4/5
Page 25- Future recommendations 5/5

Contents: Appendices
Page 26 – Research project appendices
Page 27 - Appendix 1

Contents: Figures and Tables
Page 32 - Research project figures and tables
Page 33 - Figures and tables 1/5

Acknowledgements
• I would like to thank my peers who have given
me advice throughout my project.
• I would also like to thank my teachers Mark
Sambrook and Paul Cox for their advice and
guidance throughout my project.
• I would also like to thank the Aviva
premiership website for allowing me to access
their information.

Introduction
My project’s aim is ‘To investigate the affect of
premiership standard back 5 forward height and
the amount of lineouts won per game.’ I chose
this aim because I wanted to see if the height of
the back five forwards affects lineout success
rates in elite level rugby. My timescale for this
project was one month. I started my project on
the 6th and finish on the 27th of march. On the
12th I started to collect the heights and win
percentages.

Literature Review and References
Here is a link to my literature review.
https://worthingsportscience.wordpress.com/20
15/02/26/unit-5-literacy-review-liam-lee/

Project Hypothesis
1. I expect to find that teams with taller back
five forwards will have a better lineout
success rate.
2. I expect to find that other factors will also
contribute to lineout success within rugby.

Method
1. First create an excel document with all the Aviva premiership teams names down the side.
2. Add the columns 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, total height, average height, lineouts had, lineouts won and finally lineouts won
percentage.
3. Add calculations that will work out the total height for the combined heights of 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 and calculations
that will find the mean for their total combined heights.
4. Add calculations that will work out the lineout win percentage using the calculation: lineouts had divided by
lineouts won time 100 = the percentage of lineouts won. To see an example of the excel document see
(Appendix 1).
5. Copy this excel document four times saving them as round 1, round 7, round 15 and round 20.
6. Using Google, go to the Aviva premiership rugby fixtures and results webpage.
7. Go to round 1 and look at each game. Take the names of each teams starting back 5 forwards and research their
heights on the Aviva premiership rugby website and record them on your excel document (this is where excel
will need to calculate the total height for each team and the mean height for each team).
8. Then, on the same website, find each teams stats for the game showing lineouts had and lineouts won. Then
record these for each team on your excel document. (this is where excel will calculate each teams lineout
success percentage).
9. Do this for rounds 1, 7, 15 and 20 (putting each rounds results in the appropriate excel document).
10. Find the mean height and mean lineout win percentage for each team over the 4 rounds and make a scatter
graph and a spearman correlation measure (See figures and tables 1).
11. Write up a conclusion of what you found and your opinions.
P3: Collect and record / M2: Correctly analyse & describe techniques / D1: Correctly analyse & explain techniques

Data Collection
I carried out a desk based research project that consisted
of collecting numerical secondary based quantitative data
from a reliable source (see appendix 2). It consisted of
looking at each teams lineout stats for games 1,7,15 and
18 in the Aviva rugby premiership and recording them in
an excel spreadsheet. It also consisted of looking at each
teams starting back 5 forwards and researching their
individual height using the teams official webpage on the
Aviva rugby site. The benefit of using these sites to get
my data is that they are a reliable source whereas using a
website such as Wikipedia may not have accurate
information.

Data Analysis
I analysed my data using excel by looking at each
teams average starting back 5 forwards height and
comparing it to their lineout win percentage. I did
this for each team over the 4 games looked at. I
then had to calculate each teams mean height,
lineouts per game and lineouts won per game. With
this new information I then made a scatter graph on
excel which allowed me to see if there was a
correlation between height and lineout win
percentage. Then I used the spearman correlation
measure on excel which showed me if there was
any correlation between the two variables.

Results
• My results from my scatter graph and the spearman correlation measure
show that there is a very low correlation between the height of the back 5
starting forwards and the lineout win percentage in the Aviva rugby
premiership (see figures and tables 2 and 3). I got my results by entering
my data into the a spearman correlation measure using excel and seeing if
there was any correlation. I also saw this on my scatter graph which I
made on excel to support my results so they were accurate.
• During my project I also had to do some other research to support my
work in which I found that the height of the lifters and the hookers
throwing technique can be a vital part of winning the lineout. I found this
whilst writing my literature review.
• My first hypothesis was that I expect to find that teams with taller back
five forwards will have a better lineout success rate, my results contradict
my hypothesis as the spearman correlation measure indicates that there is
little correlation between the two.
• My second hypothesis was that I expect to find that other factors will also
contribute to lineout success within rugby. My results support that as they
show that height does not affect the success rate and so there must be
other factors to make the lineouts success rate high.

Discussion
• I found that the average height of Aviva premiership rugby teams
starting back 5 forwards has no correlation to them having a better
lineout success rate. This finding was not what I expected as I
thought the opposite and so this result was quite a surprise to me.
The trend that I identified was that the average height of the back 5
forwards rarely changed throughout the 4 games looked and was
quite consistent throughout my project, this suggests to me that
the height of the team which is picked is not a tactical decision.
• I also found that the height of the lifters and the hookers throw
technique has a huge affect on how successful a lineout is. This
finding was what I was expecting but I did not know that different
techniques when throwing can affect accuracy.

Conclusion
‘To investigate the affect of premiership standard back 5
forward height and the amount of lineouts won per game.’
My key trends were that all the sources will support my
research project. Another is that all my sources are valid and
will help me during my project. Another key trend is that my
sources are all looking at elite level male athletes. And finally
that they are all related to the height and weight of athletes.
Overall, half of my results did not support my hypotheses and
were not what I expected to find as they showed that there
was no correlation between average height of the back 5
forwards and lineout win percentage. Whereas I did expect to
find that other factors affected the lineout.

Review (1/3)
My project conclusion did not meet my project aims
very well at all. My conclusion found no correlation
between what I was looking into (as shown on
figures and tables 2). Although my conclusion did
meet one of my hypotheses. Another thing my
conclusion told me is that I should not continue
research on this aim as no correlation was found
and so it would be a waste of time.
P5: Describe / M3: Explain / D2: Justify

Review (2/3)
• One strength of my research project is the
reliability of my data because I used a very
accurate and reliable source (see appendix 2).
• Another strength is the organisation of my data
and how it has been presented on excel. This is a
strength as the data can easily been seen. (See
figures and tables 1,2 and 3).
• Another strength of my research project is the
validity of my data. It is valid because it allows me
to clearly see whether height affects lineout win
percentage.

Review (3/3)
My area to improve would be to learn more about
how to use excel and the spearman correlation
measurement as I did not really know about it or
how to use it. If I knew how to do it I would have
saved time as I had to wait for help. This would
allow me to have more time to do research and
collect data. It would also have enabled me to have
more time to write up my work. I would do this by
furthering my knowledge excel using the internet
and websites such as YouTube and you can watch
tutorials.

Future Recommendations (1/5)
If I was to do this project again I would take into
account the hookers technique when throwing
more. I would do this as from my research in this
project I have learned that different hookers use
different techniques when throwing with one of the
techniques proving to be the more accurate. I
would choose this as I feel that the hookers throw
can have a real affect on how successful a lineout is
and by doing research on it I would be able to
justify that statement further.
P4: Produce / P5: Describe / M3: Explain / D2: Justify

The benefit of taking the hookers throw into
account would be that you would be able to see
which technique is more effective in terms of
throwing. I would also be able to see if height is
more important or the quality of the throw. It
would also help support whether this research
projects aim was correct or whether it could be
questioned with evidence to back it up.

If my research was to be done again I would
recommend taking different participation levels into
account as this may give a more true representation
into the relationship into back five height and line
out win success. At the lower levels of participation
it may be found that because the skill decreases the
height of the back five might be more of a factor
into success. This would mean having to make the
study longitudinal as the data would have to be
collected first hand and due the there not being any
secondary data.

I would then look at the height of the lifters in
the lineout. I think this would be a good thing to
look into as taller lifters can get more height on
the lift which could become a tactical advantage
and possibly help win games. This may be down
to the fact the arm length may be bigger
therefore the extension and height of the line
out may be higher which gives a immediate
advantage.

I would recommend for someone else, who is
more experienced to redo my project in order
to see if they get the same results. I would
advise them to do this as height and size in the
forwards is a growing must in the world and this
research could help to see whether it is
beneficial to have bigger forwards or whether it
is just part of the evolution within rugby.

Appendix 1
Here is a photo of my excel sheet used to show
data I collected.

Appendix 2
http://www.premiershiprugby.com/

Research Project Figures
and Tables

Figures and Tables 1
Here is a photo of my
excel sheet showing my
data

Figures and tables 3
Here is a photo of my spearmint correlation

Figures and Tables 2
Here is a photo of my scatter
graph.

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