Rugby Union Quotes

Archie Henderson has won no awards, written no books and never played any representative sport. He was an under-11 tournament-winning tennis player as a boy, but left the game when he discovered rugby where he was one of the worst flyhalves he can remember. This did not prevent him from having opinions on most things in sport. His moment of glory came in 1970 when he predicted—correctly as it turned out—that Griquas would beat the Blue Bulls (then still the meekly named Noord-Transvaal) in the Currie Cup final. It is something for which he has never been forgiven by the powers-that-be at Loftus. Archie has played cricket in South Africa and India and gave the bowling term military medium a new and more pacifist interpretation. His greatest ambition was to score a century on Llandudno beach before the tide came in.

The union team of New Zealand's national sport of Rugby has incorporated the static posture of the Haka war dance into its symbols. That symbol of the sprawling arms and legs is similar to that of the Dogon's Kanaga mask which I trace back to Egypt; it resembles the Ka signaling the beginning of the solar and/or lunar cycle based on the Egyptian theology when Osiris proceeds from the Great Pyramid (which is the House of Ka) into the Duat.

DNA sequencing of fecal samples from players in an international rugby union team showed considerably greater diversity of gut bacteria than samples from people who are more sedentary.

The Manhandling of Gilbert Gripes by Stewart Stafford Scrummage in a birch wood, Pyrrhic rut for an oval prize, Grinning studs rake my face, A flayed Garryowen as sport. Cauliflower ears throb with fear, Thunderous hooves charging, Poleaxed by a car crash tackle, Nosebleed kiss tickles my lips. The rite of passage staggers on, A butcher's initiation of brothers, Cutthroat razors kindly supplied, Wealthy primates whoop in safety. © Stewart Stafford, 2024. All rights reserved.

As three-time Olympic ski jumper Andreas Küttel puts it, “Nature . . . gives me absolutely a lot of energy on a daily basis but also for special occasions it gives you calmness.” The ability of natural spaces to help us de-stress is reinforced by former Irish rugby union player Rosie Foley, who enthuses, “The emotions are just pure relaxation and just that lovely feeling of this is where I’m supposed to be!