Why are players rubbish after rugby sabbaticals?
Sport Review #213
Not many rugby players come back from sabbaticals refreshed, relaxed and better rugby players. Thrown into the back end of the NPC after 18 months of straight rugby, generally, they look like shit.
Sport Review Research has crunched the numbers and taken the cultural pulse of why sabbaticals make for rugby players that are worse, not better.
Player watched one episode of Anthony Bourdain in Tokyo on the plane over, subsequent six months of straight whiskey and pork diet not conducive to peak performance
Agent messed up, player did sabbatical in Monaco, standard of competition extremely low
Player signs lucrative promotional deal with Le Chimiste Entrepôt and immediately retires
Player enrolled at NYU film school, subsequently lost all interest in rugby in favour of Velvet Underground covers band and black turtlenecks
Player expected easy ride in Japan, spent six months being beaten up by angry NPC journeymen instead
Player took sabbatical in French Foreign Legion
Player took sabbatical in NRL
Player loses nest egg in late night TradeMe bidding war on original copy of Jonah Lomu Rugby, pivots to Real Estate
Thanks for reading - Richard
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Women’s Rugby World Cup is here! Kris Shannon says we can definitely win it, and so does Honey Heremie-Smiler. Suzanne McFadden profiles #7 Kendra Reynolds, and Christopher Reive has six players to watch. Importantly, the teams are being shown some fine hospitality, with pies. Whatever happens, we’ll beat the previous record crowd for a women’s sporting event in NZ tomorrow night [NZ Herald, Stuff, Locker Room]
Ewan Chatfield did one mankad in a test and was dropped for four years - it’s weird reading this now we’re (maybe?) all g with them [Stuff]
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