Sport Place

Rugby Shirts in Fashion

 

People in all walks of life have particular taste for fashion. Some of them prefer to wear any casual attire while others would like to be sporty, wearing sports apparel that they are most interested in. In the UK, you wouldn’t be surprised to see people wearing rugby shirts during weekends on the park or in shopping areas. This simply goes to say that they are still interested in rugby despite the fact that football has gained much popularity in modern times. The common adage in UK that says “football is a gentleman’s game played by ruffians and rugby is a ruffian’s game played by gentlemen” is quite a stereotype on its own. Perhaps it’s because of the fact that most men in middle to upper class play the rugby that this adage has become real. Yet, it cannot be denied that there are still oldies and traditional people in UK who still go for rugby instead of football, and they may not necessarily belong to the higher class. Anyway, what matters is that the game has not yet been extinct and there are still people who plays and enjoys watching the game. Moreover, there are also people who still wear rugby apparels casually, showing their interest on the sports and proudly wears them their everyday life.

 

Of course, not all rugby apparels can be worn casually otherwise one would look out-of-this-world if he wears rugby boots in the shopping mall. The most common apparel for casual wear is the rugby shirt. Men, women and children, who have passion for the game can wear them anytime and anywhere as long as it is not a uniform officially worn by rugby players. There are rugby shirts that suit the sizes of men as well as suitable rugby shirts for women and children. They may be worn anytime they want to during family days and weekends. Of course, not only those who are interested in rugby sports have the right to wear rugby shirts. Anyone who feels like wearing any sporty attire can always choose to own and wear rugby shirts if they want to.

 

Where to Buy Rugby Shirts

 

Rugby shirts can be found in general and specialty stores offline and online. But it is more convenient to buy one from specialty stores since there would be wider choice of designs and sizes. Besides, in rugby apparel specialty store, you might even find other interesting rugby apparels such as rugby boots, rugby bags, rugby shorts, rugby jackets and many more. You wouldn’t only benefit buying rugby shirts in specialty stores especially if this is your. You can even recommend a friend or acquaintance who is playing rugby to buy rugby boots in these stores if they need to. Rugby boots in specialty stores are also offered in various sizes and designs and they are intended to play for rugby. Some general stores will mostly offer sports shoes to the most popular sports such as football or soccer, but you can definitely find rugby boots only in rugby specialty stores.

 

So whether you are looking for a rugby shirt for casual wear or rugby boots for the game, it is more appropriate to buy them in specialty stores. This way it will not be hard for you to choose the best fit and appropriate design because there are plenty of choices available.

Nutrition has a big role in improving performance in sport. Having a good nutritional plan aids your performance a great deal. Eating the right stuff to enable you to perform at your best is not hard but, just like any other diet, you need some discipline.

Training to play rugby, whether ball skills, aerobic or anaerobic fitness, contact skills or resistance training requires high levels of energy to perform; as do matches.

Most of the required energy should come from carbohydrates. You should eat foods low in the Glycaemic Index (GI) and either a protein blend or Casein, egg or soy protein early in the day before exercise. This will provide you with slow release energy you need throughout the day as well as providing you with a slow release protein. Just before exercise, you should consume high GI foods as well as high amounts of Whey Protein. The high GI food will provide a quick release burst of energy you will need and the whey protein floods your bloodstream with amino acids to aid recovery. It has been proven that athletes perform better when they consume a protein and carbs drink before and during exercise compared to carbs drinks and water.

Eating protein is as important as eating carbohydrates. It is essential for muscle repair and recovery. Each meal during the days should have a high amount of protein content and foods such as chicken, turkey and tuna are all excellent at providing a source of protein.

Everyone needs vitamins and minerals, but athletes may need a higher amount than the average person to aid recovery. Fruit and vegetables are a great source of these, as well as providing fibre and complex carbs. Foods such as spinach, watercress, courgettes, mange tout, peppers and apples are some of the most commonly eaten foods by rugby players.

Finally, the most important thing. Plenty of water. You should drink a pint of water with every meal. Before training sessions or gym sessions you should have a hypotonic drink to compensate for the fluid you will lose during exercise and post exercise you should consume a hypertonic drink to replace lost fluids, electrolytes and carbs. During exercise, isotonic drinks are preferred by many top athletes as they replace the lost water and sodium.

You can make these easily at home without having to spend much money.

Hypotonic:

250 ml Fruit Juice (Orange, Apple, Pineapple etc.)

750 ml Water

Pinch of Salt

Hypertonic:

750 ml Fruit Juice (Orange, Apple, Pineapple etc.)

250 ml Water

Pinch of Salt

Isotonic:

500 ml Fruit Juice (Orange, Apple, Pineapple etc.)

500 ml Water

Pinch of Salt

World famous rugby player Jonny Wilkinson claimed he eats mostly chicken breast with a salad of mange tout, courgettes and peppers!

Pre-Match Preparation

Breakfast is important on an average day, but the morning of a match it is even more important. You should eat a big breakfast which, again, is high in carbs and protein. A bowl of cereal isn’t enough. You should try and have a bowl of cereal, eggs (poached, scrambled or an omelette, not fried), some fruit and at least a pint of water.

In the days leading up to a match, you need to drink much more water than usually to ensure you are properly hydrated. Drink a hypotonic drink the morning of a match.

You do not need a large lunch. A small portion of meat with pasta and salad is perfect. Eat a couple of hours before kick off. Just before kick off, some players like to eat a chocolate bar or a small packet of sweets for a quick bit of sugar.

Post Match Meal

This should be a complete meal. It should contain a high amount of carbs, protein and vegetables. Something such as Lasagne with a salad is good after a match as you have a good mix of carbs and protein in the meat and pasta.

Supplements For Rugby

I would consider the most important supplements to take to be carbs and protein. You can get these in the form of a “weight gainer” or you can obtain pure protein and complex carbs and mix them to the amounts you want.

Glucosamine Sulphate is commonly taken by athletes including rugby players to aid with joint maintenance. Due to it’s high impact nature, there is a big strain on the joints.

In recent times, the implications of the Crisis on sports, rugby included, has began to show. Teams have started to feel the pinch and many have started taking measures to brace for the looming tough times ahead.

While every rugby team aims to crown their season with some sort of silverware to mark their success, more and more teams are becoming wary when it comes to signing new players. This is due to the high transfer fees demanded for players.

Continental Glory

As a result of this, club coaches are making do with what they have, even at the expense of continental glory. Rugby clubs in Europe seem to be more concerned with maintaining their top flight status in their domestic rugby leagues and less concerned with concurring the continent. And can you blame them? To win a continental trophy like the Heineken Cup requires a team to have depth in the squad. To attain this depth, a team needs to have a few big name signings on their team sheet.

€700 000 Spending

To have such players a club has to splash out about €700 000. But with the cash crunch starting to bite hard on the sport in Europe, few clubs if any are willing to spend such an amount on one player.

Negative BalanceSheet

The situation is the same across the board. Big clubs are also crying out for cash injection; with many barely been able to remain liquid. Many have reported negative results in their end year results.

Financial Plea

In the UK, Wasps reported a £2.8million loss; while Bath and Newcastle were lucky that their benefactors were willing to dip into their pockets to assist them. Others like Bristol are finding it difficult to even meet their players wage demands and have resulted to making public plea for funding.

Salary Caps

If will be interesting to see what will happen at the start of the next season if the current situation prevails. According to the games Chief Executive in the UK – Mark McCafferty, there are two ways of dealing with the crisis. One is to drop from the top flight rugby. This will leave a total of 10 teams which will share the revenues generated. The revenues are set to grow in 2010 when the new broadcasting deal commences. Should this happen, then there will be no need of reducing the salary cap.

Conversely, however, the salary cap is not likely to be raised as that would not reflect a true picture. In addition raising the cap would only do more harm to clubs with less liquidity. News that Italians will be bidding to have 4 teams representing them in the Magners League during the 2010/11 season is no doubt good news to the Celts. The three nations Scotland, Ireland and Wales seem to have little option but to let the Italians in given the size of the Italian market and the revenue potential it holds. France clubs will be faced with an interesting challenge given the fact are less restricted when it comes to spending. Clubs like Toulouse and Stade Francais, however, will definitely be shy to splash their money during the new season.