Differences in the neurocognitive profiles of professional and semi-professional male South African rugby union players

Abstract

This study investigated possible cognitive functioning profile differences between professional and semi-professional rugby players. Seventy-nine male rugby union players (professional = 55, semi-professional = 24; age range = 19–37 years) participated in the study. The players completed a battery of neuropsychological functioning tests covering the following domains: memory tasks, attention and behavioural tasks, sensory-motor tasks, executive functioning tasks, verbal tasks, and emotion identification tasks. Results following Fisher’s exact test comparisons revealed no significant group differences in the cognitive functioning profiles.

Keywords:

• cognition
• rugby union
• sport performance
• team sport

ORCID

Ankebé Kruger http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4568-2346

Kobus Du Plooy http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2573-5866

Pieter Kruger http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0504-3347