> I also don’t believe that the occupation of a person gives rise to their desire to play any particular sport to let off steam

Neither do I. I was suggesting, with no supporting evidence, that their desire to play rugby highlighted their personal issues, rather than that their occupations drove them into its muddy arms. More to the point, though, this is all in danger of becoming very dull; my beef was with compulsory contact sports at school, not with people who mystify me by enjoying them as adults. Look, I’m keen to establish a consensus: let’s just agree that everyone who plays rugby is as bad as Hitler, and we can put this behind us and move on.