Grand Opening Sale
Special Financing Available

Australian Rugby Team Stresses Sleep Science

When it comes to rugby, Australians take the game seriously, and the New South Wales rugby team has been representing the state of New South Wales for over 100 years in the annual State of Origin series, a sort of World Series of Soccer that pits the home team, known as the Blues, against the team from Queensland.  As this year’s training camp began in Coffs Harbour, team members found themselves with a new piece of equipment – a high tech sleep monitor worn on their wrists at all hours of the day and night outside of actual practices. The monitors are a part of the plan from the New South Wales team’s sports science unit, which is tasked with making sure that every aspect of the players’ performance is being accounted for. The staff knows that sleep and nutrition are key factors in performance, as well as in recovery.

The wristbands are the creation of a company called ActiGraphy. They monitor both rest and sleep. A separate test of players’ saliva is conducted at different points during the day in order to monitor overall health conditions.  Though players have not yet been apprised of the results of their monitoring, they are aware that the units are measuring whether they’re getting enough rest and whether the sleep that they’re getting is deep sleep or light sleep. As players’ sleep patterns are identified they are being paired as roommates with those teammates whose patterns match them most closely.  Prior to arrival at the camp, players were asked to keep sleep diaries that reflected their mental and physical state, how many hours of sleep they’d had, their diet and exactly what training they’d done.

Though this is the first time that many players have seen this type of technology in use, they appreciate the effort and interest that is being exhibited. Says back-rower Ryan Hoffman, “It’s great knowing the amount of work NSW are doing to give us the best chance of winning.” In addition to measuring levels of sleep, the monitors are also recording sleep movements and levels of daytime sleepiness being exhibited, which may be an indication that a player is simply staying up too late, or more seriously may be experiencing episodes of sleep apnea or another sleep disorder. Players are still being asked to track their feelings in wellness journals.

According to Blues hooker Robbie Farah, “We’ve been told to wear the around all day. They use the data and get something from it. You press the button when you go to sleep and then press it again when you wake up. We have a good sports science crew here. They have implemented the sleeping patterns test, saliva tests and stuff like that, and they are experts in that, and are obviously getting something out of it.” The players have overall acknowledged that the new program is forcing them to pay closer attention to how they feel and the benefits that they get from getting a full night’s sleep.

Leave a Reply

Back to Top