Why fights are good

And a trip down the "big hit" memory lane

Recently a soccer fan asked me if I punched on (fought) much during games.

I said no, and fights rarely happen in Rugby games, but they do happen at training.

Which coaches love because it meant the players were switched on and going hard.

In fact, I think we won every game when there was a fight at training that week.

Pushing and shoving doesn’t count. And if players are punching on every week, then there’s a sign something isn’t right in the squad.

But sometimes uncontrolled explosions of anger and energy is required to get attention, draw a line in the sand, and show you care.

And if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t get so worked up, and someone who is 100% controlled and measured all the time, to me, comes across like they don’t care.

Which probably isn’t true in all cases, but uncontrolled emotions matter.

Getting angry isn’t fun.

It’s draining, and I’m not saying people should start brawling in the office whenever there’s an issue. Nor am I endorsing physical violence as a means to resolve issues.

But what I’m trying to say is “conflict is a good thing” and environments that are peaceful all the time are ones that are avoiding dealing with issues.

Because improving anything requires change, and many people don’t like change and will fight tooth and nail to stay the same.

Plus people often avoid conflict because deep down, they don’t really care that much. Or at least not enough to change for the greater good of the group.

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These fights aren’t from training, but here are some memorable in-game punch ups:

Salesi “Boppa” Ma’afu v Tom Youngs

Duncan McCrae v Ronan O’Gara

James Horwill after copping a cheap shot from Imanol Harinordoquy