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A Study of Rugby Punts in Japan’s Top Level League :
Case Studies of winning Teams [Received August 22, 2017; Accepted January 18, 2019] The purpose of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the use of punts in toplevel rugby games to clarify their practical use by winning teams. Subjects were punts (n=4737) in the Japan Rugby Top League 2016–2017 season. Punts were first categorized into Time, Area, Start of Possession, R/Ms (Rucks and Mauls) and Position. They were then classified qualitatively into “Effective” or “Ineffective”. Results reveal that punts achieved greater statistical significance in winning teams in Half Way to Opp 22 (t=5.17, p<.01) , Opp 22 to TRY Line (t=5.18, p<.01) , TURNOVER (t=3.30, p<.01) , RESTART (t=6.91, p<.01) , and 1 R/Ms (t=2.89, p<.01) than in losing teams. They have a better point from the qualitative perspective. Results suggest that the use of punts in these situations is effective from the quantitative and qualitative viewpoints; and it is expected that this research will contribute to rugby in that it focuses on top-level rugby games and is based on a significant number of punts. Keywords: rugby, punt, kicking, japan rugby top league |