Some great clips of rugby players showing outrageous strength

[chris_rp]

http://rugbypunt.com/strongest-rugby-players-in-the-world-videos/

Which is the most impressive?

 

[ratsapprentice]

None of them impressive at all as feats of strength, in the context of world class human strength, which is way higher than that displayed by rugby players.

In the same way that any rugby player's speed is entirely ordinary when compared to any elite level sprinter.

 

[chris_rp]

I think people forget that many players give away promising athletic backgrounds and the like to pursue rugby. Lawrence Okoye would be playing rugby is the Americans didn't nab him. Konrad Hurrell in rugby league was the Tongan national weightlifting champion. A guy like Henry Tuilagi supposedly benches 550lb for 5 reps, he'd be world class strong if that's what he focused on.

Elite level sprinters? No shortage of rugby and league players who gave up promising track careers for rugby. Okay they're not getting near top 10 nevermind Usain Bolt but they would have been elite or there abouts.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Conjecture.

No doubt there are some very good athletes in rugby, but the point stands that none of those clips are particularly impressive feats of strength in the wider context of elite human athletic ability.

A guy like Tuilagi is doubtlessly a freak, but to be "world class" in the bench he would need to be benching over 300kg at his bodyweight.
Bearing in mind that the "evidence" that he can rep (see that there is no mention of how many - certainly nothing specifically about 5) 250kg is that Austin Healey said so in an article for the mirror.

You hear a lot of what is quite frankly ********, bandied around about "so and so runs a 4.2 second 40m" time and very little solid evidence to support it.
Particularly when you get someone like Carlin Isles come in and demonstrate just how fast a lot of top wingers claim to be - it's plain to see they aren't anywhere near as quick as they claim.

 

[smartcooky]

In the same way that any rugby player's speed is entirely ordinary when compared to any elite level sprinter.

100m Sprinter: Purpose designed spiked sprinting shoes, carrying nothing, running on a purpose built artificial running track with his own lane.

Rugby player: General purpose studded rugby boots, carrying a ball, on grass and sharing his lane with 29 others, 15 of whom are trying to stop him

Hardly surprising then, is it?

 

[ratsapprentice]

Wooooosh.

You probably wouldn't find a compilation of elite sprinters playing rugby particularly impressive if it was put forward as an example of rugby skills, would you?

You're also saying that as if an elite sprinter playing rugby in studs would somehow slow down considerably, as we've seen in the last couple of years, even nobody sprinters like Carlin Ilses are literally leaps and bounds ahead of even the fastest rugby players.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Conjecture.

No doubt there are some very good athletes in rugby, but the point stands that none of those clips are particularly impressive feats of strength in the wider context of elite human athletic ability.

A guy like Tuilagi is doubtlessly a freak, but to be "world class" in the bench he would need to be benching over 300kg at his bodyweight.
Bearing in mind that the "evidence" that he can rep (see that there is no mention of how many - certainly nothing specifically about 5) 250kg is that Austin Healey said so in an article for the mirror.

You hear a lot of what is quite frankly ********, bandied around about "so and so runs a 4.2 second 40m" time and very little solid evidence to support it.
Particularly when you get someone like Carlin Isles come in and demonstrate just how fast a lot of top wingers claim to be - it's plain to see they aren't anywhere near as quick as they claim.

I dunno, that one with the beast was pretty impressive.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Certainly as a freak event it was impressive, but the clean and jerk world record (most similar movement that's done competetively) is around 2 and half times the weight of the guy that the beast help up there.

So as an act of strength - it's a professional athlete holding up a weight that is less than his own bodyweight.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Certainly as a freak event it was impressive, but the clean and jerk world record (most similar movement that's done competetively) is around 2 and half times the weight of the guy that the beast help up there.

So as an act of strength - it's a professional athlete holding up a weight that is less than his own bodyweight.

A clean and jerk is done in a controlled environment where you have the chance to prepare and know exactly what is happening. You also have a specially designed bar, support, chalk on the hands etc. The weight also isn't behind your head and in a clean and jerk the weight is dropped afterwards. There is also minimal rotation of the weight. Just because they aren't competing with people who specialise in certain areas, doesn't mean they aren't extremely strong. Does a rugby player need to be able to lift weights on a similar level to to weightlifters who do nothing but lift weights to be considered really strong?

 

[ratsapprentice]

What Tendai did is directly comparable to catching a barbell after a jerk, except a barbell doesn't jump up for you.

And yes, I think if you're going to set up the article as a demonstration of great feats of strength generally as opposed to within the context of rugby - which the article does IMO, the yes they should be compared to other sports.

An outrageous demonstration of cardio for a strongman is going to be pitiful in the context of most other sports, so it would be ridiculous to frame them as amazing in anything outside of their context.

Just so that I'm clear: I'm not trying to demean the videos, just want to do justice to strength sports and other pure athletics sports.