The effect of home advantage on international-level rugby union performance

Abstract

Many teams and individual athletes prefer to compete at home, thereby benefiting from preparing in familiar surroundings, having easy access to training and coaching staff, close contact with family members and profiting from a positive crowd atmosphere. However there is little empirical evidence to show whether home advantage is beneficial, particularly in international-level rugby. Purpose: To investigate whether playing rugby at home advantaged teams. Methods: In a retrospective longitudinal study, all matches (n=125) played in the 2012 Super Rugby Competition were analyzed for key performance indicators (KPI) from coded game data provided by OPTA sports data company. Matches were played in a home-away format in New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. Results: Compared to playing at home, playing away from home had a detrimental effect on points scored in the first (-2.2 2.1, mean change 95% confidence limits) and second half (-3.9 2.2) of games, resulting in more wins being recorded for home games (59%). Teams playing at home were 1.4 times (95% CI 1.1-1.6) more likely to win than teams playing away from home. Compared to playing at home, playing away from home resulted in a substantial increase in missed tackles (0.9 0.9), and reduced gain lines met (-1.7 1.5) in the first half of games. Conclusion: Playing at home (home advantage) can have a beneficial effect on rugby KPI and thereby increase the likelihood of teams winning games.