Rugby Coaching and Performance

Do you want to turn your passion for rugby into a rewarding career? An ever-increasing workforce of skilled professionals is needed to help rugby players reach their full potential. Strength and conditioning, coaching and performance, fitness testing, team and player analysis, nutrition and psychology are all becoming vital to performance.

This rugby coaching course offers a unique opportunity to work towards industry-recognised World Rugby/Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) rugby coaching awards. This means you can be confident you’ll graduate with enhanced employment prospects in the field.

This rugby coaching degree course is supported by the WRU and professional rugby regions in Wales. It has been designed in consultation with WRU Coach Education Managers, Cardiff Blues, Dragons, Scarlets, and Ospreys coach educators, Hudl Performance Analytics experts, and United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA) strength and conditioning experts, and many of these staff contribute to the course.

You can work towards your Rugby Union Level 1 and 2 Children’s and Senior UKCC/WRU Rugby Coaching awards, Level 1 and 2 Refereeing qualifications, and gain relevant experience within Performance Analysis and Strength and Conditioning modules, which provide experience of working in those areas.

You’ll study in world-class facilities and conduct most of your work at USW Sport Park, which is designed to support a high-performance coaching environment. We have a brand-new specially designed sporting performance facility that focuses on rugby and football coaching. It includes a specialist centre for strength and conditioning with 12 lifting platforms, providing a high performance environment for aspiring athletes. Our full-size indoor 3G pitch is built to the Fifa Pro standard and World Rugby 22 standard. It will guarantee training all year round for our rugby, football and coaching students. We are the only university in England and Wales to offer this facility.

You’ll also find a notational analysis suite and over 30 acres of playing fields, including five floodlit pitches. We have a sand-dressed ‘astroturf’ pitch, as well as a full-size FIFA approved 3G pitch. In addition to these all-weather pitches, there are six grass football pitches, three grass rugby pitches, and a large changing pavilion. Our facilities are regularly used by international professional teams, such as the Wales national football team and Cardiff City Football Club, as well as the touring New Zealand, South Africa and Australia rugby squads. This confirms the high quality of our pitches and the versatility of our equipment.