The full contact version of rugby union involves fifteen players per team and requires strength, stamina and an all round robustness that few other sports demand.
The Door is Always Open
Fresh talent is always welcome to the sport. “Anyone with a reasonable level of fitness is welcome to join our training sessions,” says Phil Woodward, the coach of Bangalore Rugby Union Football Club, one of the top teams in India.
Many people think of rugby as a game for barrel-chested giants. In actual fact it is a sport which can be played by people of all shapes and sizes. Few sports can compare with rugby in the sense it can accommodate all body types. Big players gravitate towards the forwards, who do a lot of pushing and strength related work on the rugby field. Smaller and quicker players tend to play in the backs, the players who are frequently seen running with the ball or kicking it deep into opposition territory.
Physical Fitness is Important in Rugby
Athleticism and physical fitness are attributes that benefit all players, regardless of the position they play on the rugby field. Over the past dozen years top level rugby has seen a major transition from amateurism towards professionalism. The reputation that rugby once had, as a social sport, in which drinking a beer after the game was an integral part, is being eroded by increased emphasis on fitness and scientific training methods.
Many players still enjoy a beer after the game, and rugby is still a good way of meeting people, but the training methods and fitness programmes adopted by top teams in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are also percolating into the methodologies used by coaches at amateur level.
Running for eighty minutes, the duration of a rugby match, is energy sapping enough. But rugby involves pushing, pulling and tackling; a challenge of strength in addition to the cardio-vascular workout. Even in Bangalore’s relatively temperate climate, fitness is important if players are to last the full eighty minutes. A good fitness level helps to ensure players perform effectively and recover quickly after rucks, mauls, and scrums. Ultimately fitness has a bearing on which teams are most successful.
Learning via Touch Rugby
Touch rugby is an excellent way of improving cardio-vascular fitness and ball handling skills. It’s also a good opportunity for people of all ages and of both sexes to play rugby together, and to learn about the laws of the sport. “There are no tackles or scrums, and the emphasis is on having fun”, says Coach Woodward.
Unlike many other sports, the ball may not be passed forward in rugby. It has to move laterally or backwards. Knowing how to propel the oval ball effectively is a skill that must be learnt. Players also need to learn how to run onto the ball. Games of touch rugby are an effective means of improving such skills.
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