[quote]Mongolprince wrote:
Martin Johnson when he visited the states remarked that he was amazed at how big and athletic the high level amateur rugby players were and Woodward has confessed to have learnt something from American football:
What Woodward learnt from the NFl was the professionalism of the back room set up, and he bought that attitude to England. They were’nt there to learn about conditioning.
As for people talking about Marius playing rugby. I don’t think he would actually be that great to be honest. Defensively he would be a liability. Too cumbersome, even alot of the big lads would run rings round him. I expect he walks round the pitch most of the time, and as for tackling him, it’s not like American football. You don’t have to smash him. Hit him at knee height with good technique, and he is going down. Scrummaging against him would be bloody difficult, but I would use a very short, very technical prop to drag the scrummages very low, thus negating some of his strength.
The thing to remember aswell with rugby players (Top level pros) is that they are shredded as well as being pretty strong and powerful. Sheridan has a bodyfat level of 10% at about 265lbs.
Most rugby players will concentrate more on plyometric type work than straight strength. The ability to accelerate is far more beneficial to them than straight strength.
If I had to compare rugby players to a Popular North American sport, I would probably pick ice hockey. Technical, and fast with a collision aspect aswell.
I would also like add to the comments made earlier about weight training in school. Most UK schools don’t have weights programmes, or even equipment. It amazes me when reading these forums that you have so many 15 - 18 year olds who are really strong, and get that way at school. This simply does’nt happen in the UK.
It is also a cultural thing in the US military, that yu have alot of huge, strong guys. In the British military, the emphasis is on physical endurance rather than strength.
Josh Lewsey (An England rugby player, and former soldier) makes his comment on this in his book. He says that when US troops come over on exchange programmes, the first thing they have to do is improve their running endurance.
Just thought I’d throw it in, as from my observation, this runs through most physical activites as a difference between the US and UK. We value Endurance in our Sports etc, while you place a much higher emphasis on Strength. I think this is down to the basic fact that you have a much more Macho culture than we do.