The evolution of Rugby

Rugby, a sport I think everybody knows, has really evolved since the beginning of the 21st century. Playing rugby is not easy and does not remain accessible to everybody. Physically speaking it requires strong preparation and technically speaking you need to practise for years and years. Nowadays being selected when you are a young player to play with a first division club is more and more difficult in France because the physical selection is really important. This change in mentalities leads us to ask the following question regarding the race for musculature preparation in Top 14: has it gone too far?

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The first point I will discuss is that playing rugby requires a good physical preparation; this is indisputable. In fact, this sport is always nicknamed as a “fight”. Everybody knows that you need to be armed for a fight. It’s the same for rugby (Michael Posthumus &Justin Durandt). I think that going to the gym three or four times a week and doing cardio is really important if you want to be efficient on the field. We always have to remember that rugby is one of the most physical sport in the world. Moreover, being well prepared is also a way for rugby players to protect themselves. It can be really dangerous if you are not prepared because impacts are huge on the field and the TOP 14 season is really long. Not being physically ready will lead players to suffer injuries, and serious ones for some players (i.e. knee ligament rupture). That’s why I agree that musculature preparation is really important in the French competition, but I will explain that focusing too much on this point is not good for the players and the TOP 14.

The second important point is that year after year, the role of physical preparation (also called “the arms race” in France) grew, maybe too much, and I will explain for you why I think so. As players are increasingly big and muscular, impacts during tackles or scrums are also harder and harder. Inevitably, there is an increase in the number of injuries. In fact, during the last three years the number of injuries in the first and second division has increased from 603 to 981 injuries per year (AFP & Redaction). The second problem which is linked with the first one is that the number of concussions has never been as high as today. Having too many concussions in a limited amount of time can have dramatic effects on the cerebral health of a player. It’s generally a long term impact, for example with Alzheimer disease or neurodegenerative diseases which appear early (it was around 40 for some players when generally this kind of disease appears between 60 and 70). That’s why the stakes are really high here in my view and things have to change. A direct negative impact of this problem is that the number of licences in the French federation of rugby is decreasing yearly according to the official figures on the FFR website, with for exemple a decrease of 30% last year (Clément Suman). This decrease will also impact the next point of the discussion.

The third point I want to talk about is a game one. France has always been a big country of rugby, especially with the “French Flair”, a game based on collision avoidance on the field. This type of game means a lot of passes and runs (Barney Thompson). Since 2011 and the World Cup of Rugby final loss against New-Zealand, I have noticed a loss of international exposure of the

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