Strength & conditioning for amateur rugby
Your club week.
Your position.
Your plan.
Gym and conditioning sessions planned around your training nights and fixtures, built for where you play, and adjusted every morning from three jumps and four taps. Written by a rugby S&C coach. Every rule has a source.
- Built around your club nights
- Six position groups
- Head injury tools always free
How it works
Set it up once. It plans every week.
Tell the app how your club week runs and where you play. It does the planning that most amateur players never get from a coach.
Tell it your club week
Training nights, fixtures, the end of the season. Mark the big games. The club week is treated as fixed; only the app’s own work moves.
Pick your position
Front row, second row, back row, half backs, centres or back three, plus lineout role for forwards. Your sessions carry that group’s emphasis.
Check in each morning
Three jumps and four quick taps for sleep, soreness, energy and mood. Compared only with your own normal, never with anyone else.
Train the session it gives you
Green, amber or red, with a one-line reason for any change and a one-tap override. Weights move from how your last sets actually felt.
The club week
Built around Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Most amateur programmes are written for full-time athletes. Yours has to fit around a job, two club nights and a match. Here’s a typical in-season week the app might build for a player who trains Tuesday and Thursday and plays Saturday.
No heavy legs either side of a game
Nothing heavy, lower-body or power-based the day before or after a match. Two-game weeks switch to a high-low template.
Strength kept all season
Main lifts at least twice a week in waves, so you can play the last game stronger than the first.
45, 60 or 75 minutes
Pick your session length. If time runs short, accessories go first. Main lifts, neck and hamstring work are never cut.
Readiness check-in
Sixty seconds that change today’s session.
Three countermovement jumps and four wellness taps, compared with your own rolling normal. Jump height and how you feel are two of the better-studied ways to track fatigue in athletes Claudino et al. 2017 Saw et al. 2016.
Green
Train as planned.
Amber
Same weights, about a third less volume.
Red
Move it to tomorrow, or run a short recovery version.
Features
Everything a club S&C coach would do. In your pocket.
- Position plansSix position groups, lineout roles for forwardsFront-row neck and trunk strength, second-row jump and land, back-three top speed. Your main position sets the emphasis.Position plans
- ReadinessDaily jump and wellness check-inGreen, amber or red, with a reason for every change and one tap to override it.Readiness check-in
- Head injuryEngland Rugby’s graduated return, built inReport a possible head injury and everything locks. Stage by stage, never skipped, never “cleared”. Always free.Head injury return
- In seasonStrength that lasts until MayWave loading, match-recovery steps, two-game weeks, contact-minute logging and big-fixture planning.In-season training
- Warm-upActivate-style warm-upBalance, landing, cutting, strength, neck and shoulder work, built on the same evidence as World Rugby’s Activate programme.All features
- 35+ settingMasters players get their own defaultsHeavy legs 72 hours after a game by default, a longer warm-up, calf and Achilles strength and speed work kept every week.All features
Safety first, always free
Some things should never sit behind a paywall.
Head injury reporting and return steps, pain reporting and red-flag advice, illness guidance and support links work for everyone, subscribed or not. Safety rules always override the plan.
Possible head injury
One button on every game and training log. Contact, sprints, jumps, lifting and conditioning lock straight away, with NHS 111 and 999 guidance on screen.
Pain and red flags
Rate pain 0–10. Mild pain swaps the exercise; 6 or more, swelling, a limp or a red flag stops that area and points you to a physio or doctor.
Illness and mood
Above-the-neck symptoms mean a lighter day; fever means no training. Two weekly mood questions, with support links if you need them.
No injury predictions, no risk scores, no claims that an exercise prevents injury or concussion. Just guidance with its evidence shown.
The coach behind the rules
Written by someone who’s run the club week.
Aaron Parry is a qualified strength and conditioning coach who has worked in amateur, community and professional rugby environments. Match Ready is the programme he’d give every player he couldn’t coach in person.
- S&C coach, RAF Rugby
- S&C coach, Peterborough Rugby
- S&C coach, S&L RFC
- Northampton Saints Community
- Placement, Bedford Blues
- Placement, Newcastle Falcons
- Podcast guest and host
coaching rules, each written down with its source
places where expert sources disagreed, each resolved in writing
position groups, from front row to back three
injury-risk scores. We don’t predict injuries
Pricing
Cheaper than a pint a week.
One subscription unlocks your plan and sessions. Safety tools stay free for everyone.
Yearly
About £6.67 a month. Covers pre-season, the whole season and the off-season.
See what’s includedMonthly
No trial. Cancel any time in your App Store or Google Play settings.
Compare plansFrequently asked questions
Who is Match Ready: Rugby for?
Adult amateur rugby union players (18+) who train with a club once or twice a week, play on Saturdays (or midweek too) and want their gym and conditioning work to fit around that. Version 1 is adults only; an under-18 version will follow once its extra safeguards are built.
How is it different from a normal gym app?
A normal app gives you a programme and expects your week to fit it. Match Ready starts with your club week: training nights, fixtures and minutes played. It places your sessions around them, by position, and adjusts each one from a quick morning check-in. Every rule behind it is written down with its source.
How much does it cost?
£12.99 a month or £79.99 a year. The yearly plan starts with a 14-day free trial; the monthly plan has no trial. Head injury, pain, illness and support tools are free for everyone, whether you subscribe or not.
Does the app tell me when I can play after a concussion?
No. It walks you through England Rugby’s graduated return timeline day by day, checks your symptoms and never lets you skip a stage, but it never says you’re “cleared”. A doctor decides when you can return to play.
Can I use it without a gym?
Yes. There’s a full no-gym pathway built on bodyweight progressions, bands, a pull-up bar and a loaded backpack or sandbag. You can switch equipment session by session and the exercises swap automatically. We’re honest that maximal strength rises more slowly without heavy loads.
When does it launch?
It’s coming soon to the App Store and Google Play. Leave your email and we’ll send one message on launch day.
Coming soon
Train for Saturday, not for someone else’s week.
Match Ready: Rugby is coming soon to iPhone and Android. Leave your email and we’ll tell you the day it launches.