Functional Role Analysis

Functional role analysis is a process that a coach can use to identify which role a player should select in a given situation.

What are functional roles?

Each player performs a variety of roles during a game; these are known as functional roles. Each player has an identified and named position with associated roles e.g. second row (number 5); however, they only really take this position, and associated roles, during the set piece (scrum / lineout, etc). During open play, every player is required to perform a variety of different roles, e.g. ball carrier, support player, tackler, etc.

Coaches should work with all players to foster an understanding of these roles and to develop the players’ skill levels to enable them to perform these roles. Coaches must also be able to design and conduct decision-making activities during training to ensure that the players are able to perform these various roles effectively during the game. The following information is intended to help coaches identify the roles they wish each player to perform. This information can then be used to inform selection processes.

What is functional role analysis?

Functional role analysis is a process that a coach can use to identify which role a player should select in a given situation.