For anyone who watched the RBS six nations match between France and Italy at the weekend would have seen another example of what I was talking about in this post – http://www.fit4rugby.com/the-athlete-debate/

Now at only 5ft 5in and only 12st Marc Andreu would probably be considered by most rugby enthusiasts to be too diminutive for the modern game.

But his performance in just his second test was an eye opener for what is possible.

His acceleration speed looked impressive but what struck me was the one time he ducked under and through the tackles of two much larger men. Just shows he still has specific rugby power even at that weight.

Later on in the match he made a great break by ducking under a tackle (helps when you’re only 5′5″) before off loading to another player, eventually leading to another try for France.

I’ll be putting a post up soon about speed and the importance of this one characteristic of rugby fitness.

If you’re a small person wondering if you can make it in what appears to be a big man’s sport then don’t worry there could well be a place for you yet.