Rugby is a very stop, start game with few passages of play lasting more than a minute or so in playing time. This means it’s difficult to get an accurate gauge on how far players actually run, fortunately with the help of gps in recent years we now have the answers.
On average a rugby union player runs 6.7 kms per game and a rugby league player runs 6.9 kms per game. Broken down further, rugby league backs run most with 7.7 kms per game and rugby union backs 7.2 kms per game. Rugby union forwards run 5.2 kms and league forwards run least at around 5.9 kms.
It’s also useful to put that in the perspective of other sports to see how those numbers compare and give them some context. I chose to compare them to AFL and American Football as those are the two other sports that you sometimes hear about rugby players changing codes to. I also threw in premiership footballers for general interest.
| Sport | Average Distance Run Per Game (Kilometres) |
| Rugby Union | 6.7 |
| Rugby League | 6.9 |
| AFL | 12.94 |
| American Football | 2.01 |
| Soccer/Football | 10 |
As you can see, rugby players don’t run nearly as far as AFL players and are at least 3 kilometres off footballers. Of course, neither of these two sports have anywhere near the same level of contact and collisions that rugby players have to endure.
American football players have it really easy though, only having to cover 2 kms per game which is largely due to the fact that the average ball in play time for a game of gridiron is just 11 minutes! I guess carrying around all that padding must be hard work!
incidentally, these figures will of course be significantly altered should a game go into overtime/extra time. Read our article on what sports play extra time/overtime here.
Rugby Union Backs v Forwards: Distance Run Per Game
| Rugby Union Backs | Rugby Union Forwards | Difference |
| 7230 | 6680 | 550 |
| Rugby League Backs | Rugby League Forwards | Difference |
| 7740 | 5923 | 1817 |
As we all know, one of the reasons rugby (both codes) is such a great game is that it is a game for all shapes and sizes. In the table above, we can clearly see that in union, backs are covering on average 550 metres per game more, but, in rugby league backs are covering a whopping 1817 metres per game more which seems to be a surprisingly large disparity.
Now, I guess those numbers might seem no big deal, but when considered over the course of an average season of around 30 games, it means that league backs are covering 54,510 metres more than forwards. I’d be looking to renegotiate my contract after looking at those stats if I was a league back!
Of course, the different types of running that are performed is markedly different between backs and forwards, in both codes. League forwards are largely short ‘all out’ ball carries over just 20-30 metres, or, they are going ‘all out’ to close down the space in front of opposition forward ball carriers, and looking to make a big hit at the end of it – so, highly intense work.
Union forwards, on the other hand, do do some of the big hit ups similar to league but they have less of a ‘run-up’ to them as there is generally less space in union and defensive lines are closer to attacking teams.
So far, so good, all stats seem to be as I would have expected, however whilst sifting through different research I came across this quote from research commissioned by Leinster rugby:
Traditionally in the published literature it has been reported that backs cover significantly more total distance at high speed than forwards due to the specific demands of their role in game play, combined with their greater opportunity for open-field running [3–6,10]. However, contradictory evidence exists, with Austin and colleagues [7] reporting similar total distances covered at sprint speed by back row forwards and outside backs.
Essentially this seems to be saying, hang on a minute some forwards are running more than backs! And you know what, when you think about some of the performances that people like Sam Simmonds, Tom Curry and Sam Underhill put in in the Gallagher Premiership you start to think that might just be the case.
Let’s dig deeper…
High Speed Running In Rugby Union Compared Across Positions
I worked out the numbers below by averaging out the numbers taken from a study of a group of players participating in the Rabo Direct professional league in 2011.
| Position | Total distance (metres) | Total running done at high speed (metres) | Percentage of total ran at high speed (%) |
| Prop | 4604 | 376 | 5.52 |
| Hooker | 4407 | 283 | 4.05 |
| Second row | 5158 | 317 | 4.399 |
| Number 8 | 5627 | 355 | 4.53 |
| Flanker | 6206 | 403 | 5.12 |
| Flyhalf | 6670 | 433 | 5.41 |
| Scrum half | 5860 | 463 | 6.47 |
| Centre | 6335 | 588 | 7.35 |
| Wing | 6636 | 655 | 8.2 |
| Full back | 6332 | 562 | 7.06 |
Some things are as expected. Wingers are running 8.2% of their total distance run at high speed which is double that of hookers, who only run 4% of their total distance at high speed which makes perfect sense.
Wingers have a lot of ground to cover in defense, particularly covering kicks and also when joining the line in attack from deep. Hooker naturally do most of their speed running off the sides of rucks and mauls when the defensive line is only giving them a few metres to run in to.
However, the point that stands out to me is that of the back row players and flankers in particular. Flankers are covering a similar number of metres to most backs and indeed more than scrum halves in this study!
The percentage of flanker’s total meters ran is also as high as a fly half and considerably higher than other forward positions. In other words, flankers break the mould in terms of the typical forward to backs comparison and strength and conditioning coaches would do well to ensure the training they are given reflects this.
You might want to read our guide to which positions score the most in rugby to see how distance run impacts scoring feats.
Who Runs More Rugby League Or Rugby Union Players: A position by position breakdown
Rugby League figures based on135 professional rugby league players recorded during 28 National Rugby League games in 2011 (source). Rugby Union figures are based on 36 professional players from a Rabo Direct Pro12 team (source).
| Rugby League Position | Average Distance Run Per Game (Metres) | Rugby Union Position | Average Distance Run Per Game (Metres) | Difference League v union |
| Full-back | 7760 | Full-back | 6332 | 1428 |
| Winger (2) | 7457 | Winger (2) | 6636 | 821 |
| Five eight | 8402 | Fly half | 6670 | 1732 |
| Half-back | 8500 | Scrum half | 5860 | 2640 |
| Centre (2) | 7301 | Centre (2) | 6335 | 966 |
| Hooker | 6988 | Hooker | 4407 | 2581 |
| Lock | 5481 | Number 8 | 5158 | 323 |
| Props (2) | 4597 | Props (2) | 4604 | -7 |
| Second row (2) | 6936 | Second row (2) | 5627 | 1309 |
| Flankers (2) | 6205 | NA | ||
| Overall Average | 6901 | Overall Average | 5816 | 1085 |
What stands out from the above figures is that rugby league players run more than rugby union players in all positions across the board . I imagine this is not a major surprise as they do have two players less on the pitch after all.
The keen eyed amongst you will note that the overall average for union players is lower than the original answer quoted at the top of the page for how far players run per game. The reason for this is that this table is taken from a different study with a smaller sample of union players which simply gave me more positional data for me to work out player averages from.
You might also want to read our insightful guide to the average weight of rugby players here. Also see: How Far Does A Rugby Player Run By Position
Photo Credits
Jason Robinson during a match of the Guinness Premiership between the Northampton Saints and the Sale Sharks. The match took place in Franklin’s Garden on the 6th of may 2006. Sale won 36-64. David Coldrey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
