‘I feel more comfortable in contact with similar-sized players’: male youth rugby union players’ perceptions of bio-banded training

BACKGROUND: Bio-banding has been used to moderate disparities in maturity status between youth players of the same chronological age to support development. AIM: The purpose of this study was to investigate male youth rugby union players' perceptions of bio-banded training compared to chronological age grouping. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: -tests were used to analyse quantitative data, and qualitative data were assessed using an inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Irrespective of maturity status, the majority of players perceived they understood and enjoyed most aspects of the bio-banding format and believed they were less likely to get injured compared to chronological age grouping. Both maturity groups perceived bio-banding facilitated superior psychosocial capacities and offered a greater technical and tactical challenge, whilst circa-PHV and post-PHV players perceived bio-banding as less and more physically challenging than chronological age grouping, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results suggest using bio-banded grouping for training, as an adjunct to chronological age grouping, may positively contribute to the holistic development of male youth players in rugby union irrespective of maturity status.