Strength is a powerful tool for the modern-day rugby player and an area of the game that teams deploy to their advantage regularly to get themselves on the front foot.
Until a certain Jonah Lomu for New Zealand in the early 1990s, bulk was typically reserved for those in the forward pack, and even then, the amateur game didn’t produce the sort of size that professionalism subsequently brought.
Since then, bigger wingers, centres and full-backs are not uncommon these days and the allure of big hits, charging runs, and ‘bump-offs’ is as big as it’s ever been.
From the likes of Nemani Nadolo, Julian Savea, the Tuilagi clan and many others, bulldozing runs are an intrinsic part of what makes rugby such a powerful, contact sport.
It also makes these types of players incredibly hard to stop, with even the perfect ‘around the legs’ tackling sometimes not enough to prevent the defending player from being bumped to the ground.
This video collates some of the biggest, most powerful ‘bump-offs’ in rugby history from over the years. So, sit back, relax, and try to not to wince at some of these huge displays of strength and power!
IN OTHER NEWS:
Superstar winger Marika Koroibete is among three Wallabies players scrubbed out of Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup series opener with the All Blacks after leaving teammates filthy over a late-night drinking session.
Koroibete and strike forwards Isi Naisarani and Pone Fa’amausili have been ruled unavailable for selection after breaching team protocol by continuing to consume alcohol more than two hours after curfew following a bonding session in Auckland last Saturday.
Coach Dave Rennie said while “there were no issues around behaviour, damage or complaints or anything,” the trio had let the entire squad down as the Wallabies strive to break a 35-year Eden Park hoodoo.
“We’ve got a big squad here – 42 players. Thirty-nine understood the importance of getting together and getting connected and having a quiet beer and three guys lacked the discipline beyond that,” Rennie said on Wednesday.
“We’ve stated the importance of our preparation for the All Blacks. We all need to be at our very best to try and force the All Blacks to be below their best.
“This obviously didn’t fit with their mindset so (we’re) incredibly disappointed and, to be honest, there’s a big chunk of that group who are pretty angry.”
Rennie said Koroibete, Naisarani and Fa’amausili had taken leftover alcohol from the team room.
“It’s not so much (about being) intoxicated. It was the fact that they continued drinking well beyond the time that was listed,” he said.
“Basically, we’d finished downstairs and the expectation was to call it a night. These three boys went upstairs and carried on (drinking).
“It was certainly more than two hours past (curfew).”
Rennie said a “senior player” first alerted team manager Adrian Thompson to the breach.
But the coach made it clear that senior management made the decision to stand the trio down, saying it wasn’t the leadership group’s call to determine the punishment for an offence “of this scale”.
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