With another great RBS Six Nations competition having been
played, we’re seeing a spike in interest in Rugby Union as players both young
and old are being inspired by the level of talent we witnessed on the pitches.
Now, the RFU is calling all players to find a local club team and get involved.
They have said that rugby is “a territorial, full-contact, team game, inclusive
of all shapes and sizes, where 20-stone bulldozers are valued just as highly as
small, pacey whippets”. And it could not be more true – we found ourselves
cheering on 118kg ‘bulldozer’ prop, Joe Marler just as much as 92kg Chris
Ashton, who was out there on the wing being a ‘pacey whippet’!
Rugby Union originated in England in the early 19th
century and William Webb Ellis is often credited with its invention, running
with the ball in hand in 1823 at Rugby School when he supposedly caught the
ball while playing football and targeted the opposition goal. The first Rugby
World Cup was held in 1987, taking place every four years, and annual
competitions include The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby
Championship in the Southern Hemisphere. As a major global sport, we’re urging
everyone to give rugby a try if you haven’t already. The RFU website explains
more about the various forms of rugby union and offers a club finder to help
you locate a local team.
Why is it
good for you?
Rugby offers numerous benefits that all contribute towards a
healthier lifestyle, from developing core stability to improving cardiovascular
ability. Current guidelines recommend that adults should partake in 30 minutes
of moderately intense physical exercise for 5 days a week, and as a high-paced
sport, playing rugby certainly fulfils this criteria even at the most basic
level. Every game involves sprinting, tackling, pushing, jumping and kicking,
all of which involve fitness and endurance, upper and lower body strength,
speed, agility as well as more precise ball-handling and kicking skills.
As a team sport, the social interaction and camaraderie
associated with rugby also have significant benefits as it can encourage
psychological well-bring, have positive effects on mood and behaviour, and
maintain energy balance. This is especially true for boys since rugby is
arguably the most economical of sports when it comes to manpower and inclusion;
it can accommodate up to 30 players, welcomes the huge discrepancy between
physical sizes, encourages intense exercise in an hour…all on one field more or
less the right size. At the centre of the game lies the co-operation of all 15
players rather than the brilliance of one and though there are opportunities
for individual flair, the success of the team pivots around ability of each
team member to work with the others. This is valuable skill not only in sport
but in life and an important one to impression onto boys. Similarly, both the
laws enforced by the referee and the unspoken rules of conduct – to not bite,
gouge, attack vulnerable areas – impart the importance of restraint and
self-discipline, hence why rugby is used as the main team-building exercise for
recruits for premier Army regiments.
The intense physical contact nature of the game means that
rugby players are prone to injuries, including shoulder joint sprains,
hamstring strings, ankle sprains and knee ligament injuries. The risk of these
can be reduced when playing rugby by warming up and cooling down properly,
developing core skills, employing the correct technique and using protective
equipment. However, it is impossible to eliminate the risk of injury and the
costs associated. If you’re looking to get into rugby, or are already a
committed member of a team, make sure you protect yourself financially as well
as physically.
Find out more about our insurance policy, tailored to the
demands of the game to make sure you’re protected: https://www.sportscoverdirect.com/insurance/rugby.html/
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