Since all we see in the news and our social media these days is related to Covid-19, I thought that maybe I’d write about something unrelated, and also very personal to me. I’m going to talk to you about rugby.
The first thing most people ask when you say the word rugby is: “Isn’t it the same as American football?”; well, the answer to that is NO. Rugby is a contact sport that started around the 1830’s in England, when it became popular to pick up the ball and run with it instead of just kicking it around. And just like its name states, it was founded at the Rugby School in the English town of Rugby. The shape of the ball is oval, and you cannot throw it forward but diagonally to the back: the only way you can throw it forward is either during a line-out or by kicking it. Unlike its American cousin, the only protection you need is a mouth guard and that’s it!
I’m not going to explain the rules because you can find those all over the internet, and it would make this post a little boring. The reason I decided to write about rugby is to show you all the values this sport has taught me over the six years I played it. Yes, I am a former rugby player! I played as a forward, that is, the players who make up the scrum. This is the 8-player formation known as “the pack”, which disputes the ball after some minor infringement. During my career I played four of the pack positions: prop, hooker, lock and flanker, only having missed playing number 8. If you’re wondering if I ever got injured, yes, I had my nose broken during a training session, and by a guy from the men’s team. Aside from the many, many bruises and scratches you normally get.
Back to the topic, these are the main values rugby teaches you, as stated by World Rugby:
These are the five values that this sport teaches you, but they should also be values you base your life on. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like rugby or if you’ve never even played any type of sports; they work perfectly on your day to day life. I hope that after reading this you feel encouraged to base your actions on these values, so we can become better people in the long run.
That’s all for today, take care!