High match load's relations decreased well-being during elite women's Rugby Sevens Tournament.

During rugby sevens tournaments it is crucial to balance match load and recovery to strive for optimal performance.Purpose:To determine changes in wellbeing, recovery and neuromuscular performance during and after an elite women’s rugby sevens tournament and assess the influence of match load indicators.Methods:Twelve elite women rugby sevens players (age 25.3±4.1 y, height 169.0±4.0 cm, weight 63.9±4.9 kg, body fat 18.6±2.7 %) performed 5 matches during a two-day tournament of the Women’s Rugby Sevens World Series. Perceived wellbeing (fatigue, sleep quality, general muscle soreness, stress levels, mood), total quality of recovery (TQR), and countermovement-jump flight time (CMJ) were measured on match day 1 (MD1), match day 2 (MD2), 1 day post-tournament (D+1) and 2 days post-tournament (D+2). Total distance, low-, moderate- and high-intensity-running (HIR) and physical contacts (PC) during matches were derived of GPS based time-motion analysis and video-based notational analysis, respectively. Internal...