Background: Rugby Sevens, a high-intensity sport, features contact efforts over short match durations and quick change of direction. Rugby athletes need superior explosive power and physical fitness. However, it exited insufficient research on the correlation analysis between the rate of force development (RFD) and performance-related fitness of collegiate rugby players in Taiwan. Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the degree of association among dynamic and static RFD, as well as skill-related components of fitness such as speed, agility, anaerobic and aerobic capacity. Method: Seventeen male collegiate rugby players volunteered to participate in this study. It collected dynamic RFD (countermovement jump - CMJ and squat jump - SJ), static RFD (isometric mid-thigh pull - IMTP), and skill-related fitness (40-meter speed, Pro-Agility test, anaerobic and aerobic capacity. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient was adopted to analyze all variables. The significance level was set at α = .05. Results: Static RFD and anaerobic performance strongly correlated (p < .05). Dynamic RFD (CMJ and SJ) had a high correlation with more skill-related fitness (p < .05). Conclusion: IMTP, CMJ, and SJ could be a valuable method to assess the performance-related fitness in collegiate male rugby players.
