My dislike for rugby.

I have interests in many sports for many reasons. Like many children around me when growing up, I loved the game of football and I lost count of the number of times that my parents scolded me for jettisoning an errand to go and play street football. Even in school, I played the game a lot.

Though, I have other sports that I love watching like track and field events, other ball games like table tennis, lawn tennis, basketball and volleyball, my love for football knows is incomparable.

Some years ago, I heard a lot about rugby. I decided to read more about it to know how it is being played and the rules guiding it. I realized that it has a lot of similarities with football such as the shape and design of the pitch, having goal posts at both ends of the pitch etc. I decided to watch the game to see if I would love it the way I love football.

The first time I watched the game was when I started to hate the game. I am the kind of person that has no flair for any game that involves too much physical strength or combat. This is the reason that made me not like wrestling as a child. I remember quarreling several times with my siblings whenever they wanted to watch wrestling and I would be interested in watching something else. Since then, any game that has any semblance with wrestling in any form is of no interest to me.

I watched rugby and saw how players were falling on one another. The physical energy involved was huge.

Apart from this, the rules of playing rugby caused me many confusions. The ball is not allowed to be thrown forward. It can only be thrown backwards but it can be played forward by kicking, running with the ball or when a maul occurs.

A maul occurs when a player with the ball is held down by opponents. His teammates would come for his defense. There are many rules guiding maul but the more I attempt to understand them, the more my confusion increases. All I see are adults falling on one another and going physical in playing the game.

I do wonder, sometimes, how the referee is able to understand the game and realize when there is infringement or foul in such a rowdy session.

In order to provide space for the physicality of the game, a space is left around the pitch to accommodate such rowdy combats.

I love a number of sports as earlier mentioned but they must be the kind of sports that limit injury. When I watched rugby, I declared that it isn't my kind of game. The energy required to play the game is obvious from the body build of the players.They are with physical muscles all over.

I have seen many football players that if we are to judge by their statues, they can't go close to playing rugby.

I really wish to understand this game someday even though I can't play it or love it for the reasons stated. I just want my confusion about the rules to be cleared.