Study characteristics and test design regarding studies included in the second step
| Author(s) | Rugby code | Skill tested | Subjects | Age (mean±SD) | Test design |
| Green25 | Union | Reactive agility | Academy (n=17) | 19±1.67 | Sprint to 45° change of direction point and change direction to left or right flashing finish gate |
| Club (n=11) | 19±1.30 | ||||
| Gabbett24 | League | Reactive agility | First grade (n=12) | 23.6±2.3 | Follow direction of tester (four scenarios) initiated movement to left or right through finish gate |
| Second grade (n=30) | |||||
| Serpell26 | League | Reactive agility | Elite (n=15) | Not reported | Sprint towards screen displaying action of sport-specific movement (48 scenarios) and change direction as playing defender |
| Elite junior (n=15) | |||||
| Gabbett9 | League | Technical and perceptual skills | First grade (n=58) | 23.8±3.8 | Reactive agility: follow direction of tester (four scenarios) initiated movement to left or right through finish gate |
| Pattern recall: recall player positions at time of video footage occlusion | |||||
| Pattern prediction: predict next action at time of video footage occlusion | |||||
| Tackling: 1-on-1 tackling drill assessed on standardised criteria by sport scientist | |||||
| Draw and pass: 2-on-1 drill in single and dual-task conditions assessed by sport scientist | |||||
| Pienaar10 | Union | Catching and passing | Experienced (n=173) | Not reported | Passing for distance: passing as far as possible |
| Non-experienced (n=45) | Passing for accuracy: passing over 4 and 7 m towards target | ||||
| Running and catching: catching the ball while running | |||||
| Stuart22 | Union | Simulated rugby games | Elite (n=9) | 25±4 | Kick for distance: kicking as far as possible |
| Kick-off for distance: kicking-off as far as possible | |||||
| Offensive sprint: forward run with ball while swerving | |||||
| Defensive sprint: running forward and backward three arcs | |||||
| Tackle sprint: tackle on tackle bag, running backward with ball, making another tackle and run forward | |||||
| Passing accuracy: repeatedly pass ball as fast as possible towards target | |||||
| Gabbett14 | League | Game-specific skills during match | First grade (n=86) | 22.5±4.9 | Two expert coaches assessing playing skills (general, evasion, tackling/defensive, offensive) on standardised criteria |
| Kempton28 | League | Game-specific skills during match | Elite (n=5) | Not reported | 2× first halves of 10 subjects coded on game-specific skills analysed on standardised criteria by trained operator from recordings of matches |
| Elite junior (n=5) | |||||
| Sirotic27 | League | Game-specific skills during match | Elite (17) | 24.8±3.1 | 2× first halves of nine matches analysed on game-specific skills per minute of playing time |
| Semi-elite (22) | 22.1±2.4 | ||||
| Bennett23 | League | Game-specific skills during match | Elite junior (45) | 16.5±1.0 | 2× first halves of eight matches analysed on skill involvement during match |