If you’ve been to rugby regularly, you’ve probably noticed that some rugby players have clean-shaven feet except in mixed wheelchair rugby. The question that remains in the minds of many is why do players save their feet?
While there are many reasons behind shaving rugby players’ legs, there are only 4 main ones:
- Hairs are automatically wiped because of strapping.
- If there is a wound or injury, the hair has to be removed.
- Rugby players need frequent massage of their feet.
- It helps show off muscles.
Don’t be impatient if the above reasons are not enough for you. In addition to the above, there are four other five reasons why a rugby player can shave his leg.
Do rugby players shave their legs?
Most Rugby players shave their legs because of sticky strapping material which gives them auto wax. The frequent foot massage to relax the leg muscles and leg injuries also play a key role. Besides, a shaved leg is easy to clean and ideal to show off leg muscles.
How does a rugby player remove leg hair?
Most rugby players remove the hair through shaving and waxing, although the laser treatment gives a permanent solution. Among the 3 methods, waxing keeps the hair off for longer and it is inexpensive too. However, laser treatment is becoming more common among English players.
Why do rugby players shave their legs?
Sticky strapping material:
You may have noticed that rugby players have white tape on their thighs and lower legs to help them lift. When the tape is removed with glue, the hair on the players’ feet gets up. But do you know, why do rugby players tape their thighs?
This is why rugby players save their feet. Because when the adhesive tape sticks to the feet, the players have to work hard to get the tape and it hurts a lot.
For injuries:
Lifting a rugby player can often result in leg injuries, amputations, and scratches. She has to shave the hair around her to clean the wound.
A player always has a foot injury in one way or another. Although this injury does not occur every day, it can occur at the beginning of his playing life. As a result, a rugby player saves from the beginning.
If he didn’t do it all at first, he decided to shave later.
Messaging:
Professional rugby players need to take frequent messages in the middle of the game, at the end of the game, in case of leg injury or injury or to increase the movement of the leg muscles.
The rugby player has hair on his legs and it is very difficult to take his message and many times he gets pain.
To run fast:
Many people think that having their feet shaved helps them to increase their speed. As cyclists do. But I think there are very few rugby players who save to increase their speed.
For easy cleaning:
In many parts of Asia, and even in many parts of Europe, the early stages of a rugby player’s life begin with a clay field.
On the playing field, the player’s body gets muddy every day, which makes it very difficult to clean at home. If there is a lot of hair on the legs, then the base of that hair is stuck in the mud. Many people shave to get rid of this problem of body cleansing.
Ready for Club Calendar:
Each of the rugby players’ clubs has a calendar. Many save their feet to present themselves on that calendar and to attract the attention of higher authorities.
For lifting:
During lifting, the tape is tied to the legs and it is lifted. But if you have problems with your feet, you can often hold the hairs of your feet up. Because in times of excitement there is no time to think about anything that needs to be done.
This can cause unbearable pain and suffering to your body, so it would be wise to shave your feet.
Shaving vs Laser vs waxing: which is better?
Saving:
Shaving is a very cheap way to get rid of the hair of a rugby player. However, the biggest problem is that if you shave, your hair will grow bigger after a while. It’s extremely annoying; You need to save again and again.
Another major problem is that when you shave, you will have short hair that looks awkward.
But the biggest advantage of shaving is that you can do it at a very low cost from time to time and you don’t need to be an expert for this.
Related article: Difference Between Waxing and Shaving
Laser:
The laser removes hair permanently from a rugby player’s leg and shoots the hair follicles with a laser. Once you have done laser treatment, the hair on your feet will never come back.
However, the biggest problem with laser treatment is that you have to spend a lot of money to do this treatment. Again, this is a very time-consuming matter, once you have laser treatment your hair will never come back.
Assume that when you retire you will not be able to return to your previous position. So no one pays laser treatment except for the professional keeper.
Waxing:
Waxing works best for all types of players. It is long-lasting, cheap, and easy to do at any time, anywhere. The only drawback is it the players will suffer instant pain while removing wax. But it is manageable if you think about the pain of shaving legs every week and the time and cost of the laser treatment.
You need expensive doctors, long time rest and other issues. And most important is a rugby player at a very early age can’t afford that.
Final thought:
Between shaving and laser treatment, I think it’s better to shave a rugby player. When a rugby player saves his own leg, he can see for himself what condition his leg is in, whether there are cuts anywhere, whether the leg muscles are OK, all of which can help a player take care of his own body.
Can I play rugby without shaving my legs?
Shaving rugby players’ legs are not completely necessary, however, the player will suffer some problem as follows:
- At the time of lifting, the player may face some problems.
- If a rugby player wants to play his entire career without completely shaving his legs, he can. But he has to shave some area of his leg. Especially, where he needs to take off sticky strapping materials.
- Sometimes he needs to clear some areas where he gets injured.
The European countries have a reputation for clean rugby fields where players don’t have to worry about dirt. But the Asian countries and the rural areas of European country’s rugby fields are not clean. Because building a clean field with synthetic grass is very expensive.
The players who played on those dirty fields have to clear their legs after every match. And it is harder to clean and unshaved legs in comparison to shaved & smooth legs.
So, a player does not need to save his legs if he is living in the European cities but if he is leaving in the rural areas of Asia or South Africa, then it is highly unlikely to remain with unshaved legs.
Conclusion:
On the bottom line, a rugby player is most likely to shave his leg at the very early age of his career. Rugby is the man’s game; getting injured and playing with dirt is frequent. So a rugby player mast shaves his leg in very early life.