Quotes About Rugby

I don't know how many times you see 10s tackle each other.

You do not have time in international rugby to stop and think, 'This is tough.' It's more a case of, 'Let's crack on.' Where's your next job? Fill a hole for someone who has just made a tackle?

I must say I'm a bit more daunted about changing a nappy than I am making a tackle... unless it's Ngani Laumape or Ben Lam.

I got a pommel in my eye. A pommel is the end of a sword - not the sharp end, the other end. It wasn't actually a sword fight. I was rugby tackling somebody but we hadn't rehearsed with all the kit on so suddenly there's a whole other part of the equation and that did really hurt.

As a rugby player I got into the habit of tackling without thinking. But in MMA you've got to land the right way. You can't flop. You've got to bounce back to your feet. You've got to use your sprawl.

When I was younger, I played football and table tennis for local teams. I also played mini-rugby at primary school - I was tall for my age - and Preston Grasshoppers wanted me, but I wasn't that interested in rugby. It was always going to be cricket for me.

Some of the males rose from the table then, making noise about a rugby rematch. MacRieve tensed, but didn't join them. When a couple of the men said things in Gaelic, their tones taunting, she asked, "Are they trash-talking you?" "Oh, aye. According to them, I'm the veriest pussy. Already mate-whipped.

If anyone out there is mildly curious about rugby, I'd recommend a weekend spent watching the Six Nations. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Look at rugby, the national sport, you have guys weighing 130kg, 140kg, who can run like sprinters full clip into each other causing brain damage constantly on that field.

I used to play rugby, polo, tennis, and cricket in school. It was only in the 1990s, when I used to live just opposite Harrods in London, that I started putting on weight. I used to have my breakfast there every day.

I'm not privy to the English set-up, but at the academies in Ireland, there is a huge focus on the weights room as opposed to whether they can throw a 10-metre pass on the run. They should be rugby players becoming athletes, not athletes becoming rugby players.

I grew up in Shropshire, but I was born in Wales. There was a hospital seven miles away, but my dad drove 45 miles over the Welsh border so I could play rugby for Wales. But as a skinny asthmatic, I was only ever good at swimming.

Welsh rugby has done its dirty washing in public. It's nothing new. We're a tribal bunch. If warring parties want to sway public opinion, they do it in the public arena.

I still dream about that one opportunity where the Welsh Rugby Union call me up and say, 'We need you.' There is an incredibly talented Welsh hooker called Matthew Rees, so maybe some incredible quirk of misfortune for him would mean I get called up instead.

At most grounds you're not particularly conscious of the crowd but in Cardiff, with the roof closed against a good Welsh team, the noise is impossible to ignore. It can be loud enough to put you off your game and the Welsh undoubtedly possess some of the most passionate fans in the world.

We don't want Welsh rugby to be seen as healthy or upbeat. If we think that, we could become complacent or stagnate.

I did several corporate gigs as a presenter, worked on a few branded campaigns and also made money from my rugby events company and my business, Leaf Hospitality.

I'd always thought Australia was a rugby country, but football is really developing here, and Juve are extremely popular.

I get a huge excitement from seeing the other guys cross the line. It really is a team game rugby, so if we are getting points on the board I am still very happy.

To a point, family does that and a couple of life experiences both positive and negative that have definitely altered my perception on rugby. Whereas my first 28-29 years, rugby was the entire focus, which was not that healthy, now you realise what is really important.

I had dreams of being a professional rugby player.

Irish national teams are usually very physical.

I've spent a lot of my teenage years working on sets. I've missed out on more than just playing rugby, but I think I've managed to keep my feet on the ground and keep my friends around me.

Rugby is a good occasion for keeping thirty bullies far from the center of the city.