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As the old refrain goes, ‘Football is a gentlemen's game played by thugs and Rugby Union is a thug's game played by gentlemen.’ Yet happen upon most rugby games on a weekend and you’ll find plenty of scumbags, thugs and brutes amongst starting XVs. To be clear from the start, hard men are not the wild, loose cannons who fight at the drop of the hat and are seemingly deaf to the referee’s whistle. No, real hard men are the men who will not stand for any nonsense on the pitch – but lead with their actions during the game rather than swinging with their fists. And hard men can be found at every rugby club throughout the land. It’s no surprise either; rugby union is a hard game and South Wales is a hard place, populated by hard men (and women!)
Quite often, they’ll be model citizens off the pitch, friendly and cordial in the clubhouse, honest and hardworking in everyday life. But these men are not saints. On the pitch, when lines are drawn, they are cold, focused and unrelenting. Their will to win is part of their genetic make-up. They often don’t actively look to do harm, but if the ‘dark arts’ need to be employed for the greater good of the side, or as an act of righteous retribution, then so be it. They are the type of players that make fellow teammates thank the heavens for the fact that they are on their side.
R“ugby union is a hard game and South Wales
is a hard place, populated by hard men (and women!).
ALL SHAPES & ZEBRAS FROM TREORCHY
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