So how fit do you need to be to play and really enjoy the game of rugby?  VERY!  Below is a summary of a study conducted by South Africa's Ross Tucker (PhD in Exercise Physiology from the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences) with numbers adjusted for a 40 minute match:

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- A backline player will experience about 60 ‘impacts’ per match – an impact is any involvement in a tackle, ruck/maul, or collision with the ground. Not surprisingly, forwards are involved in more impacts than backline players, with about 150 per match. The majority of impacts, somewhat surprisingly, come in the second half (65% compared to 35%).

- In terms of running, backline players can expect to cover between 3.5 km and 3.25km (2.2 - 2.4 mi) a match, while forwards cover between 2.5 km and 3.5 km (1.6 - 2.2 mi), depending on their playing position (loose forwards covering the most distance). About 70% of the match is spent standing or walking, 25% is spent jogging, and 5% running at sprinting speeds. This means that for every second spent running, players will rest or move slowly for about five seconds.

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- However, the real challenge lies in the number of times players have to change speeds, either accelerating or decelerating for short periods. The average ‘sprint’ is 20 metres long, and it happens 30 times a match, while fast jogging for 20m happens 90 times a match. In total, there are shifts in speed approximately 375 times per player per match, or once every three to four seconds. The challenge in terms of conditioning is to prepare players for this constant shifting of pace and direction.

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- Forwards spend more time doing very high intensity exercise, and less time walking or standing than backline players (65% of the match for forwards, compared to 75% for backs). This is explained by the forwards having more ‘static exertion’ periods – scrums, rucking and mauling. 

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- Finally, the physiological load is actually greater in the second half of matches. Players run further in the second half, with more accelerations and short sprints, and there are twice as many impacts in the second half. More time is also spent doing high-intensity running and less time walking in the second half of matches, especially for forwards, which says that play is more continuous in the second half. It’s perhaps not surprising then that scorelines often remain tight for 25 minutes before opening up – the last 15 minutes is where the physiology begins to tell!