The Spirit of Rugby

 Just watched a story on total rugby about a mixed disabled /non-disabled tournament ,watching these guys giving their all as either mentors and /or players drives home something that a lot of us fans forget in the rush to snipe away at each other on the interwebs .Rugby is inclusive allways has been allways will be [hopefully] the distance between rugger fans and their idols is nothing like soccer or other "elite" sports ,indeed many of us know or have met many of their teams players 

We as rugby fans need to cherish the things that set us apart from the soccer hooligans and other football codes where money ,fame/infamy is the measure of worth ,contrast that to the likes of the great John Eales and other leading lights of our code who represent all thats good about rugby and sport in general and sex ,drugs ,violence etc inherent in the other codes [and thats just their junior teams and fans !hahaha!] .

We should be marketing to the world all the virtues our greatest of games has to offer ,turn soccer moms into rugger mums ! after all its often the mums who decide what little johnny or Jill get to play and we should push the relative lack of drugs ,racism and fan violence ,at the ABS wallies game in Brissie last year an English fan commented on how good natured the crowd was as compared to soccer matches he had been to where fences ,dogs and police were needed to keep fans apart !

Theres a good reason the Army loves guys who play Rugby ,it promotes the things the Army values like team work ,physical courage ,mental toughness ,thinking on your feet etc all things fans need to emulate using guys like Eales ,MaCaw , etc as their guide ,and play hard ,play fair shake hands and cheer the win !

 Well said Wardad!

I believe that rugby helped shape us as we were growing up. Being fiercely competitive but having a sense of fair play & always ready to congratulate the other team on a win or say good game when we won. The teamwork and camaraderie were the best of any sport I played in. It is also true that rugby players are more down to earth (humble) than the stars of most sports. I know this is the spirit that is in all teams not just Kiwi teams. You can see it in the Boks, French, Pommies, etc.

When I walk onto a field of rugby players I still feel that spirit of rugby - there is a bond with players. I also feel a lot smaller than I used to, lol 

Now back to the present, who the hell are we going to beat the crap out of this weekend? Oh yeah the woblies, bring it on you bunch of convicts, lol

 I know what you mean about about feeling smaller bro ! My boys and my nephews [ a few of the neices too ! ] tower over me ! I was reading a story about some stupid soccer team paying a 100 Million pounds for some player ,what a goddamn waste when there are kids in 3rd world countries using rolled up plastic bags to try and make a football out of ! I remember when cricket players used to earn a pittance compared to the millions they get now [ they still made a comfortable living though ] but they are'nt even on the same planet as Hadlee,Lillee ,Clive lloyd and Viv Richards ! 

It seems when mega bucks and big gambling syndicates roll in the game loses its character , thats why having the Lions tour is still such a big deal and in many ways our game has retained some important character building stuff with the resurgence  of old fashion tours ,plus we still seem to get a lot more tests these days  ! 

Watching the ABS tour whilst sitting around a black and white telly with the family was awesome but I guess these days we can substitute a little with the internets eh ?

I am sure we as parents have figured out the advantages sport in general has for our kids. That is why we’ve pushed them to partake.

Nothing wrong with soccer or swimming or tennis or hockey or chess or as you say … rugby.

Too many obese kids wobbling along the streets these days.

Fresh air, sweat, an increased pulse rate and competition against others does it for me. No matter the sport. Even soccer.  

 The obese ones are probably the oaks playing chess. Those slow hand movements once every hour - if its you and ou rooitwit playing - hardly constitutes exercise CC even though you might think so.

 Yeah, thank god for the Internet . I was in the USA and no rugby to speak of until the Internet kicked in. What a drought that was. By the time I got to see a game again (90s) the Abs style of play had transformed itself into creative back play built on fast forwards with fantastic ball handling skills. Same culture though!

But for sure we have to drag ourselves away from the Internet & pick up a ball & throw it around with the kids. That's the way to keep the spirit of rugby alive. In anycase, anything  that gets us off  the sofa & into the backyard has gotta be good, lol

@warhammer,

very nice thread, :o)

i remeber after the manu samoa vs fiji match in the RWC and with both teams being very religous, all the players got on thier knees and had a group prayer, it was a kodak moment that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. its little wonder rugby is known as the game played in heaven, :o)

i do wonder what rugby will turn into a 100 years from now, with more and more countries participating in rugby and the IRB pushing to expand it (albeit slowly) to all corners of the earth.

i hope its nothing like baseball in america where when the governing body tried to introduce mandatory EPO testing, the players threatned to go on strike and MLB backed down, o_O

 I reckon that one thing that helps set Rugby apart from other football codes is the need for many different body types ,means even the odd err umm..."Weight advantaged" and more "willowy " types can get a run too ! 

Juat-win bro in the mid 70s to 80s I was in South Australia and never heard or read a word about Rugby again  till I joined the Army ! My Dad was always after me to get him Sydney Rugby League jerseys or even local Sth Aussie jerseys ,I had to keep telling him that League was almost unheard of there [ my eldest son at age 15 went back from QLD to live with my ex in Sth Oz and was selected to play for their state team they were so short of decent players !] I saw a story about a team in Tromso Norway that was started by 1 expat Kiwi [ bit like you bro !] and from playing and training in the snow and training in underground carparks in winter they now have a mens and ladies team ! Now thats some team spirit right there ! 

Beeno you should check out "Chess boxing" its an actual err..."sport"???

Anyone seen wheelchair rugby? Almost more voilent than rugby. No wonder the Canadians love it 

wheelchair rugby isnt it called murder ball???

or is that the name of the doco on wheel chair rugby i watched back in NZ, real good viewing that doco was.

i rember thinking that candaian coach was a real douche bag, he was a formoer USA player and a real star of the game but he got too old. when he was dropped for the US team, he went and coached the candians and was hell bent on watching the US lose.

nothing worng with coaching another nation, but the circumstances he did it under left a lot to be desired and i thought geez, what a genuine wanaka.

 Yeah spooney first I heard of wheel chair rugger was on "King of The Hill" checked it out and its way violent ! Hey Nar....Sasuke !

hello captain wardad, :o)

Yip Sasuke its called murderball. And if the people think the special olympics is something all about spirit think again. Being disabled doesn't mean you can't be competitve. They would murder each other for medals