Lessons from the brutish rugby pitch

By Michael Oriedo 

They are superhuman, perhaps that is not the best way to describe them. Some people, on the other hand, consider them ‘monsters’ because they play a tough game that scares away the average man.

But they have to be gigantic and stronger since that is the signature frame for the game, just the way a marathoner is expected to have a lean body.

We are talking about rugby players, whose huge frames are envied and adored by many, especially women, who consider them the ‘perfect’ male specimen and want every man to be like them. Unfortunately, few have the guts to work out and play the high-risk game.

That, however, is a story for another day. Our point of interest today is life lessons that we can pick from rugby, as a top game, and its players.

Let’s start with the most conspicuous, which is passion. Any rugby player, like the Kayanges, will tell you that they do not play the game because of the money involved. If money was the motivation, then it is not worth the injuries, some life threatening, which many suffer.

Rugby players play the game out of zeal and for the love of the game. Perhaps that is why the sport is the second most popular despite being gruesome. So, it is not worth doing anything you love most for money. When the taps run dry, where will you run?

Then there is unity. Anyone who has watched a rubgy match will tell you that there is more teamwork in the sport in football. This is evident in scrums, where players bend with their arms clasped together and fight for the ball.

Once one gets the ball, they will move with lightning speed as they pass to each in well-calculated passes breaking opponents’ defence. It is a kind of teamwork that lacks in government and workplaces, perhaps that is why things remain the same.

When you fall, dust yourself up and keep playing. This is another maxim that makes rugby admirable. The game is rough, no — cruel. When you have a ball, you become a bull’s-eye. An opponent player will lift and throw you down like a log. This happens in life most of the time.

However, a rugby player understands this is part of the game. He will lift himself up and move on; hoping to give back as well as he got only, eeeh, harder!

You might have also observed, rugby players do not fake injuries as it happens in football where a slightest touch leads to a penalty or red card. In the game, such an act is an abomination. And that is why rugby players never whine on the pitch.

As they go for tournaments, rugby players also never underrate their opponents. They often assume that the other team is better than them. Therefore, they strive to do the best. That is why Kenya’s Rugby Sevens team has been able to floor able and much-experienced opponents like South Africa and New Zealand.

And then, this is for men, the reason why women love rugby players is the way they hold their hands — confidently and tightly.

A rugby player will pass experience they get while holding the ball securely on the pitch to the anything they touch, in particular women. That is why most women adore them because, as they attest, it makes them feel appreciated and loved.

In the game, they call it ‘cage grip’.