Page 9 - All Shapes & Zebras From Treorchy

As well as colossally obese man-mountains rampaging down the wings, you get diminutive, inoffensive looking pygmies wreaking havoc and mayhem amongst the forwards. Perhaps even more common are the slight and sinewy backrowers - hard as teak - who always seem to be dominating men twice their size in mauls and rucks up and down the pitch. Even the more pocket-sized wingers can get in on the act, keen and willing to put their bodies on the line for the good of the team. I’ll always remember a quip from an Aussie commentator during a Super 16 game some years back, after a winger folded his opposite number in half with a superb hit: “He may be a winger but he still wants to physically dominate another human being!” – and the same sentiment undoubtedly applies in the amateur game.
It certainly is a game for all shapes and sizes, making amateur rugby arguably one of the most accessible sports around for anyone who wishes to play. Regardless of size, stature - or even ability - there will be a level of amateur rugby available to all who wish to find it. So long as you care, and so long as you endeavour, there’ll always be a warm welcome for you inside a rugby clubhouse.
Indeed, the fact that there’ll be players whose talents are disguised by their appearance makes the sport all the more enthralling and intriguing – a veritable feast for those souls lining the touchline. You’ll get Man Mountains who look like they’ve been genetically grown in some laboratory with the sole purpose of playing rugby,but when they trot out onto a rugby pitch they proceed to show the expectant crowd that they can’t catch, can’t pass, can’t tackle or do much else in all honesty.
Conversely, you’ll get individuals whose slight and awkward frames scream that they have absolutely no right being on a rugby pitch whatsoever, who will then proceed
ALL SHAPES & ZEBRAS FROM TREORCHY 7