Descriptive summary of body mass of players in positional groups for men and women
| Year | T1 | T2 | Tier PI | ||||||||||
| n | Mean (SD) | Median (IQR) | Shapiro-Wilks p | n | Mean (SD) | Median (IQR) | Shapiro-Wilks p | n | Mean (SD) | Median (IQR) | Shapiro-Wilks p | ||
| Men forwards (n=2437) | 1991 | 125 | 102.6 (8.2) | 103 (98–108) | 0.560 | 72 | 99.4 (8.0) | 100 (93–105) | 0.300 | 27 | 103.9 (8.1) | 105 (97–109) | 0.029 |
| 1995 | 142 | 106.2 (8.7) | 107 (100–112)* | 0.166 | 50 | 103.0 (8.6) | 103.5 (97–110) | 0.634 | 15 | 102.1 (11.4) | 105 (96–111) | 0.288 | |
| 1999 | 168 | 107.6 (7.9) | 107.5 (103–112) | 0.690 | 111 | 105.8 (7.7) | 105 (100–111) | 0.394 | 54 | 109.4 (8.5) | 109.5 (104–115) | 0.400 | |
| 2003 | 167 | 109.0 (7.9) | 110 (104–115) | 0.201 | 115 | 108.1 (9.0) | 108 (101–113) | 0.533 | 48 | 110.3 (9.1) | 110 (105–115) | 0.888 | |
| 2007 | 172 | 110.6 (7.6) | 110 (105–115) | 0.484 | 120 | 109.2 (9.0) | 109.5 (104–115) | 0.490 | 53 | 113.3 (9.3) | 112 (107–119) | 0.332 | |
| 2011 | 154 | 111.9 (7.3) | 112 (106–117) | 0.411 | 101 | 109.0 (8.0) | 110 (104–115) | 0.746 | 49 | 113.7 (7.9) | 114 (108–119)† | 0.586 | |
| 2015 | 178 | 112.8 (7.8) | 113 (108–118) | 0.005 | 119 | 109.8 (8.7) | 111 (105–116) | 0.384 | 53 | 111.3 (8.0) | 112 (106–117) | 0.756 | |
| 2019 | 171 | 113.1 (8.3) | 113 (108–119)‡† | 0.884 | 121 | 109.4 (8.5) | 108 (104–115) ‡ | 0.900 | 52 | 115.0 (10.1) | 115 (108–120)† | 0.059 | |
| Men backs (n=2010) | 1991 | 109 | 82.9 (5.7) | 83 (79–87) | 0.620 | 56 | 81.5 (6.2) | 82 (78–85) | 0.997 | 24 | 85.4 (6.9) | 84.5 (80–90) | 0.151 |
| 1995 | 120 | 85.1 (7.4) | 85 (80–90)† | <0.001 | 47 | 80.4 (7.7) | 80 (74–86) | 0.682 | 12 | 89.8 (5.3) | 91 (85– 94)† | 0.192 | |
| 1999 | 137 | 89.2 (7.8) | 89 (85–94)*† | 0.210 | 98 | 85.5 (7.0) | 85 (82–89)* | 0.207 | 41 | 93.4 (8.7) | 94 (86–100)† | 0.370 | |
| 2003 | 139 | 90.9 (7.9) | 90 (85–96)† | 0.349 | 101 | 87.7 (8.3) | 88 (82–94) | 0.444 | 44 | 94.1 (8.6) | 93 (90– 100)† | 0.779 | |
| 2007 | 141 | 91.7 (7.5) | 91 (87–96) | 0.997 | 101 | 89.6 (8.5) | 88 (84–95) | 0.203 | 44 | 97.5 (8.2) | 95.5 (93–102)†§ | 0.022 | |
| 2011 | 134 | 92.2 (7.1) | 92 (87–96) | 0.189 | 80 | 89.7 (8.2) | 90 (85–95) | 0.939 | 36 | 96.5 (7.2) | 96.5 (92–101)†§ | 0.983 | |
| 2015 | 141 | 93.2 (8.0) | 92 (89–98)† | 0.011 | 91 | 89.6 (7.5) | 91 (85–95) | 0.847 | 39 | 93.5 (10.2) | 94 (89–99) | 0.046 | |
| 2019 | 144 | 91.6 (8.4) | 92 (86–96)‡ | 0.255 | 90 | 89.9 (9.8) | 92 (82–96)‡ | 0.528 | 41 | 92.8 (8.9) | 94 (86–99)‡ | 0.232 | |
| Women forwards (n=525) | 2010 | 100 | 79.6 (7.8) | 79 (74–84) | 0.035 | 74 | 77.1 (9.6) | 75 (70–84) | 0.017 | ||||
| 2014 | 99 | 81.2 (8.7) | 80 (75–87)† | 0.168 | 66 | 78.2 (9.7) | 76 (71–83) | 0.007 | |||||
| 2017 | 108 | 83.8 (10.6) | 83 (78–88)† | <0.001 | 78 | 74.8 (9.6) | 73 (68–80) | 0.027 | |||||
| Women backs (n=433) | 2010 | 86 | 68.2 (6.0) | 68 (64–72)† | 0.857 | 58 | 65.3 (5.9) | 65 (61–69) | 0.987 | ||||
| 2014 | 81 | 69.0 (7.2) | 68 (64–73) | 0.007 | 60 | 66.4 (7.7) | 64.5 (61–71) | 0.064 | |||||
| 2017 | 85 | 69.7 (6.9) | 68 (65–73)† | <0.001 | 63 | 63.7 (6.7) | 64 (60–68) | <0.001 | |||||
Bold p value highlights a value that is <0.05.
*Significantly greater than the preceding tournament within tier.
†Significantly greater than T2 teams at the same RWC.
‡Significantly greater than previous RWCs as specified in the text.
§Significantly greater than T1 teams at the same RWC.
PI, Pacific Island; RWC, Rugby World Cup; T1, tier 1; T2, tier 2.