'There are more freak athletes in rugby than ever before...it's exciting' - how rugby is leading sports science revolution
Rugby Union is now leading the world when he comes to utilising sports science – that’s according to Kevin McLaughlin of industry innovators Kitman Labs.
RugbyPass caught up with the former Leinster and Ireland backrow at Kitman Labs this week, where he talked about the advances sports science has made, his career and injuries at Leinster and what it’s been like watching Ireland and Leinster dominate the Northern Hemisphere this season.
Kitman Labs has been a major success story. With bases in Dublin and Palo Alto in California, the company have fast become one of the sports science industry’s leading lights.
Many of the biggest names in rugby union are now relying on their expertise: IRFU, SARU, the Hurricanes, Bath Rugby, Union Bordeaux Begles, the Sharks and Toyota Verblitz among others.
They now boast clients across a range of elite sports on five continents. Outside of rugby union their clients have included such luminary organisations as the Buffalo Bills, the UFC, Cleveland Browns, Everton, Celtic, Rangers, LA Galaxy, NY Yankees and not least the AFL and NRL in Australia.
Their purpose as an organisation? Reducing injuries and maximising performances, and their results have been stark: a North American football team and client reduced their injury rate by 70 percent while an NFL franchise’s injuries dropped by a massive 50 percent last year – also using Kitman Labs data.
The Dubliner retired from professional rugby in 2015 at the age of thirty – due to concussion – but struggled throughout his career with injuries.
McLaughlin, who had just returned from giving a talk to two Bundesliga sides in Germany, told RugbyPass: “Over a ten-year spell at Leinster I probably spent close to five years on the sideline. I had multiple operations…a lot of teething problems as I was coming into my career, and my career was really delayed due to injury.”
McLaughlin believes recognising that players are individuals is key to understanding sports science data.
“Myself and Jamies Heaslip played in the backrow together for five or six years, and he and I would have done similar stats in some games. We would have both have made 12 tackles, 15 carries, hit a load of rucks, been involved in roughly the same number of mauls, all that kind of stuff, so typically you would say me and him come into training on Monday and we both react the same.
“We couldn’t have been more different. I was someone who dealt with a lot of doms, and pain and needed time to recover from fatigue from the game, a slightly slower recovery mechanism, whereas Jamie would bounce into training on a Monday. For me to do the same programme as him on a Monday made no sense.”
Increasingly in modern rugby, not unlike the NFL, a lot of weight is put into athletic performance off the pitch, be it speed and power metrics or weights lifted in the gym. McLaughlin points out that some of the game’s best players are guys who don’t lift huge weights and don’t always train well.
“You’ve still got guys like Sean O’Brien who looks like an absolute beast when he’s out on the pitch. He’d be the first person to admit that in the gym he’s probably in the bottom 20 to 30 percent when it comes to backrowers. That does not come across when he’s on the field.”
He cites both Scott Fardy and Rocky Elsom as two players who fit a similar mould, players who play much better than they train.
“That’s what makes rugby such an amazing sport. It’s what you do on the field. It’s your mental toughness. It’s your smarts in pressure situations that really make you the player you are.
“What we try to do is add on a layer of objectivity, so the data can actually be used to make the best possible decisions for the athletes.”
Teams that use a sports science system like Kitman Labs have the benefit of concise data, and extracting meaningful data is fundamental to the system.
“There is so much data on guys that the coaches are aware of the data they need. But from a player’s point of view, I would say to my younger self ‘Be more proactive. Take criticism. Get feedback and use it in a positive manner.”
McLaughlin says the next step in player data is identifying the best selection based off what opposition lie in front of your, an area Premiership football teams are starting to look at.
“So what are the profiles of the players going to look like to allow them to win a game like that and how do they need to train the athletes that week in the lead up to that game in order to optimise performance around specific KPI (Key Performance Indicators) that will allow them to beat that opposition.”
That will evitably lead to statistically targeting teams and players within teams with players best suited to getting a result.
“That’s the direction we’re going down. So they can not only prepare their athletes for what they already know are their KPIs but also exposing weaknesses of the opposition they’re playing against.”
It’s a brave new world, but one in which rugby is – in fact – leading the way.
“Sports science in the US, for some of the big franchises, is just not that important. Teams like Leinster and Ireland are at the cutting edge of what they do, and they get the most out of their athletes. They try to apply a scientific approach to back up the gut of a Lancaster or a Leo Cullen,” says McLaughlin. “It allows the Irish teams to punch above their weight.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments