Performance and Wellbeing Research Priorities in Premiership Women's Rugby: A Delphi Study Including Players and Staff

Women's sport has seen substantial growth in recent years, with increased attention to athlete performance and welfare. To support the ongoing professionalisation of women's rugby, performance and wellbeing must be prioritised. This study used a three-round Delphi-process to establish performance and wellbeing research priorities for Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) in England. In Round 1, players and staff provided research priorities, which were grouped into higher-order categories and themes via content analysis. In Rounds 2 and 3, participants ranked higher-order categories on a 1-5 Likert scale. Consensus was defined as ≥ 70% agreement. Seventy-seven participants responded in Round 1 (47 and 43 in Rounds 2 and 3). Player and staff experience of playing or working in PWR was 5.0 (2.0-7.0) and 2.5 (2.0-4.0) years. Following Round 1321 research priorities were provided, 32 higher-order research priorities and 14 categories were identified, within three themes: performance, wellbeing and injury. Following Round 3, nine research priorities reached consensus within performance (n = 1), wellbeing (n = 4) and injury (n = 4). The highest rated priority was 'Investigate the impact of being a dual-career athlete on wellbeing, and any support mechanisms required' (79%). Future research should prioritise studies which are feasible and currently lack a comprehensive evidence-base. This will enable researchers and governing bodies to address relevant knowledge gaps and inform ongoing performance and player safety initiatives. The research priorities identified in this study, by PWR players and staff, could be investigated to support the development of women's rugby domestically. These findings may also be applicable to other women's sports and leagues globally.