摘要：A common practice in youth rugby union is to group players based on (bi)annual-age with fixed cut-off dates. The overrepresentation of players born at the start of the cut-off date and the underrepresentation of players born towards the end of the cut-off date are termed relative age effects (RAEs). The aim of this study was to examine RAEs during entry into professional and international rugby union pathways in England, as well as comparing them to their respective senior cohort: U15 Regional Academy Player (n=1,114) vs. Senior Professional Player (n=281); U16-23 England Academy Player (n=849) vs. Senior International Player (n=48). Chi-square (χ2) analysis compared birth quarter (BQ) distributions against expected distributions. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals compared the likelihood of a BQ being selected. Findings revealed a significant overrepresentation of relatively older players compared to their relatively younger peers within both youth cohorts (p<0.001; BQ1=42.5% vs. BQ4=9.6%; BQ1=36.5% vs. BQ4=15.2%). In comparison, there was no significant difference in the BQ distributions within both senior cohorts. Further, BQ4s were 3.86 and 3.9 times were more likely to achieve senior professional and international levels compared to BQ1s and BQ2s, respectively. It is suggested relatively younger players may have a greater likelihood of achieving expertise following entry into a rugby union talent pathway due to benefitting from more competitive play against relatively older counterparts during their development (e.g., reversal effects; the underdog hypothesis). Moreover, possible solutions (e.g., age and anthropometric banding; playing-up and playing-down) are discussed to encourage practitioners and policy makers to create the most appropriate learning environment for every player.
关键词：Rugby Football Union; Age-grade rugby; talent identification; talent development; Player pathway
