Smoking and rugby

wicklowwonder

Do many pro rugby players smoke in Ireland? I know a lot of players who went to France from England where shocked at the amount of smokers. Palmer I think was quiet vocal about it in interviews. Also wasnt it Dupuy was found smoking in the Leicester changing room when he had to rejoin the action as a blood sub.

As the game is getting faster and the last 4 years has probably saw more professionalism brought to the game than the previous 50 do many Irish internationals smoke?

Just curious so mods if you feel it's unsuitable to discuss feel free to delete/lock etc.

Swiwi

wicklowwonder wrote: »

Do many pro rugby players smoke in Ireland? I know a lot of players who went to France from England where shocked at the amount of smokers. Palmer I think was quiet vocal about it in interviews. Also wasnt it Dupuy was found smoking in the Leicester changing room when he had to rejoin the action as a blood sub.

As the game is getting faster and the last 4 years has probably saw more professionalism brought to the game than the previous 50 do many Irish internationals smoke?

Just curious so mods if you feel it's unsuitable to discuss feel free to delete/lock etc.

I dunno if it counts, but 2 legends of NZ rugby are Smokin' Joe Stanley, and Smokin' Joe Rococoko...Not sure either actually used nicotine though.

JustinDee

Sivivatu smoked when a NZ intl. Think he quite smartly kicked it.
Lots of players might take a cig when out from time to time.

Ruck Inspector

i've seen a few smoking when out but wouldnt be sure if they are regular smokers

andrewdcs

Only post coital or with beer in hand I'd say. Preferably both.

jamiedav2011

BOD and Healy are both 'social' smokers anyway.

Wouldn't say it makes a huge amount of difference for a prop anyway!

Clohessy was a smoker too wasn't he?

wicklowwonder

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

BOD and Healy are both 'social' smokers anyway.

Wouldn't say it makes a huge amount of difference for a prop anyway!

Clohessy was a smoker too wasn't he?

Actually now that you mention it I heard Healy was a smoker, didnt know about BOD I wonder is it only social or is that what his PR guys want people to think?

Ruck Inspector

social smokers are incredibly common, not a big deal

TimeToShine

Not regularly...a social smoke every now and again makes no difference to them.

wicklowwonder

Ruck Inspector wrote: »

social smokers are incredibly common, not a big deal

Sorry I don't want to make a big deal out of it, I was just reading a piece on smoking effecting vision and a lot of vital attributes for sport and I just wondered did any of our rugby players smoke as you hear Richard Dunne smoked, Zidane too, Rooney (but Fergie banned it around the team) and Cantona. Rugby just the French and that's all I knew of, hence why I asked.

Social smoking is huge I agree, just wondered with BOD and the image he has in the game if it is more than social there is no way his PR people would want it coming out as he is a huge role model in the sport.

artvandelay48

Swiwi wrote: »

I dunno if it counts, but 2 legends of NZ rugby are Smokin' Joe Stanley, and Smokin' Joe Rococoko...Not sure either actually used nicotine though.

Don't forget Patrick Tabacco who played for France...

thebaz

the great Serge Blanco was a smoker I think - I was a social smoker , but everyday - wish I never started, so difficult to quit

Depp

Gave Darce a fag not too long ago if that means anything to ya :P

Swiwi

thebaz wrote: »

the great Serge Blanco was a smoker I think - I was a social smoker , but everyday - wish I never started, so difficult to quit

Most definitely. A man for the finer things in life. You can count his chins these days, he's really packed on the pounds.

Back in the day



These days

stampydmonkey

Don't know if it counts but was at a wedding with lots of the connacht team. They were smoking away with not a bother on them. Prob social seen as they were drinking at the time

its_phil

Didn't ROG say one of the standout memories from his wedding was BOD steering the boat they were on to the reception with a fag in his mouth and a beer in his hand?

locum-motion

Depp wrote: »

Gave Darce a fag not too long ago if that means anything to ya :P

Yeah, Darce deffo has at least a social smoke when out.

19543261

"Social smoking" - as if it makes a difference whether you only smoke at the weekend or not. Bit of a euphemism going on there me thinks.

RoundBox11

Surprised to hear so many of them are smokers tbh. "Social" or otherwise. For professional athletes who go through so much pain and dedication to keep their bodies right it doesn't make much sense for me.
I never started smoking coz I was playing (not rugby) up to and over 40 matches over 8 months of each year and training 4 hours a week. Maybe im just a loser ha! :P.

just a fast way of burning money really.

the_doctor199

Remember seeing one of Ulster's starting 15 smoking a few months ago at the back of the stand after the game, I'll not name them though!

AngeGal

19543261 wrote: »

"Social smoking" - as if it makes a difference whether you only smoke at the weekend or not. Bit of a euphemism going on there me thinks.

It does. Huge difference between having a few smokes when you're on a 'session' as many people do and smoking every day. Considering sessions are probably rare enough for most top players I wouldn't be too worried about them having a few smokes.

Of course, the danger is that social smoking could lead to being a full time smoker.

rooney30

AngeGal wrote: »

It does. Huge difference between having a few smokes when you're on a 'session' as many people do and smoking every day. Considering sessions are probably rare enough for most top players I wouldn't be too worried about them having a few smokes.

Of course, the danger is that social smoking could lead to being a full time smoker.

Agree with most of what you say but for me a professional athlete smoking can be sympytomatic of a wider indiscipline in their lifestyle . If one thinks it ok to have the odd smoke then it's more likely that they have a lassez faire attitude to diet , training , mental preparation etc. Its a matter of professionalism really.

The fact that rugby is some way behind other professional sports in its attitude to alcohol may in some way explain the the prevelance of guys having the odd fag. I mean most professional rugby players will speak openly about going on a session after a big match (if there is no match the following week) . A premiership footballer would be likely to be docked a weeks wages for doing the same, and rightly so.

19543261

AngeGal wrote: »

It does. Huge difference between having a few smokes when you're on a 'session' as many people do and smoking every day. Considering sessions are probably rare enough for most top players I wouldn't be too worried about them having a few smokes.

Of course, the danger is that social smoking could lead to being a full time smoker.

I see what you're saying and maybe I was exaggerating a little; for the everyday bloke perhaps there's a big difference yeah, but as rooney says, any at all at their level surely is already enough to be detrimental.

JustinDee

rooney30 wrote: »

Agree with most of what you say but for me a professional athlete smoking can be sympytomatic of a wider indiscipline in their lifestyle . If one thinks it ok to have the odd smoke then it's more likely that they have a lassez faire attitude to diet , training , mental preparation etc. Its a matter of professionalism really.

The fact that rugby is some way behind other professional sports in its attitude to alcohol may in some way explain the the prevelance of guys having the odd fag. I mean most professional rugby players will speak openly about going on a session after a big match (if there is no match the following week) . A premiership footballer would be likely to be docked a weeks wages for doing the same, and rightly so.

Premiership footballers go out all the time. Professional sportsters in every sport go out all the time. They do this because they are not machines and actually have a private life to live off the field. On your generalism about rugby and alcohol, I disagree profusely. Can you compare to any sport, especislly team sport and prove that rugby, especially Irish rugby is behind others in this respect?

It is also nobody's business what a player does on their own time.

John_Rambo

I have an international rugby player neighbour and he's got a great social life. I'd imagine, being the professional he is he won't let it get in the way of work. Just like me! I don't go to work hanging or let boozing affect my performance.

rooney30

JustinDee wrote: »

Premiership footballers go out all the time. Professional sportsters in every sport go out all the time. They do this because they are not machines and actually have a private life to live off the field. On your generalism about rugby and alcohol, I disagree profusely. Can you compare to any sport, especislly team sport and prove that rugby, especially Irish rugby is behind others in this respect?

It is also nobody's business what a player does on their own time.

Premiership footballers do go out , but boozing is clamped down on with fines ,threat of transfer etc. Just look at united under fergie. Robbie keane was given the door at spurs soon after organising a night out in coppers.

The boozing culture is still more accepted in professional rugby, probably a legacy of the amateur days. This will change with time I'm sure. Just read Rogs and BODs books, stories of the sessions they went on are legendary.
You might say the same about Paul McGrath , Niall quinn etc , and you'd be right but this was in a different era.

JustinDee

rooney30 wrote: »

Premiership footballers do go out , but boozing is clamped down on with fines ,threat of transfer etc. Just look at united under fergie. Robbie keane was given the door at spurs soon after organising a night out in coppers.

The boozing culture is still more accepted in professional rugby, probably a legacy of the amateur days. This will change with time I'm sure. Just read Rogs and BODs books, stories of the sessions they went on are legendary.
You might say the same about Paul McGrath , Niall quinn etc , and you'd be right but this was in a different era.

You're guessing and entitled to your opinion of course but I find the above very far off the mark regarding differences between the codes based on my own experience.

Jello

Luke Fitzgerald is another social smoker..

mcmoustache

I don't think that social smoking should be an issue. If they're downing pints, a few fags won't make that much of a difference. It'll all be coughed out in the next training session.

Match-fitness is the only thing that should prompt questions about a player's lifestyle.

Buer

rooney30 wrote: »

Premiership footballers do go out , but boozing is clamped down on with fines ,threat of transfer etc. Just look at united under fergie. Robbie keane was given the door at spurs soon after organising a night out in coppers.

The boozing culture is still more accepted in professional rugby, probably a legacy of the amateur days. This will change with time I'm sure. Just read Rogs and BODs books, stories of the sessions they went on are legendary.
You might say the same about Paul McGrath , Niall quinn etc , and you'd be right but this was in a different era.

I've seen two Premiership clubs out in Dublin, mid-season absolutely ossified. There was a very public incident involving several Sunderland players only about 3 weeks ago which resulted in one player being told he wouldn't play for the team again. However, he was out with several team mates on a Monday night who were drinking with a match the following Saturday. Because they didn't get photographed in moronic poses, hammered drunk they weren't in trouble.

Roberto Mancini complained about the heavy drinking culture in the Premierhip last season also. Two of his international players were pictured out in pubs regularly on international trips mid-season. Harry Redknapp has spoken out similarly.

There's still a significant drinking culture in football as there will be in any sport that involves young guys making lots of money. They're human and it happens.

irishbucsfan

I've seen plenty of those lads here in London. Smoking and drinking. Saw one the other day in fact!

The idea it is isolated to rugby is nonsense.