Kinanthropometric differences between playing levels and position in Rugby Union

It is common practice for professional sports to use talent identification to highlight players who may have potential for future success in a given sport. For example, in Australia the Australian Football League (AFL) run a draft camp every year where young hopefuls are assessed on anthropometric measures as well as performance related measures. Similarly, in the USA the National Football League runs a combined camp where testing is conducted for the same purpose as the AFL draft camp. For such camps to be effective it is necessary to know what characteristics are important in the elite performers of the sport. Further, in preparing for that sport, whether it be preparation for the draft process or for game play itself, knowledge about the physical and performance standards of elite players is useful to set goals and to help program training schedules.