“For Irishmen, there is no football game to match rugby and if all our young men played rugby not only would we beat England and Wales but France and the whole lot of them put together.”

— Éamon de Valera

Quoted from a 1957 speech.
Judging Dev (2007)

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Éamon de Valera 12

3rd President of Ireland 1882–1975

Linda Smith (1958–2006) comedian

A Brief History of Timewasting, Room 101, The News Quiz

“A game of rugby is a work of art!”

Danie Craven (1910–1993) South African rugby union player and administrator

Sunday Times interview (1980s)

“I used to say that I spent half my life breaking bones on the rugby field, then the other half putting them back together in the operating theatre.”

JPR Williams (1949) Welsh rugby union player

JPR Given The Breaks - My Life In Rugby (2007), published by Hodder ISBN 9780340923085

“That’s not a government, it’s a rugby scrum with a currency.”

Daniel Abraham (1969) speculative fiction writer from the United States

Source: Caliban's War (2012), Chapter 53 (p. 582)

“In 20 years time, I want to say 'didn't I have a go when I was in my prime', and I went back to play rugby league, tried to make the Rugby World Cup, tried to make the Olympics or tried to win the World Cup with the Kiwis.”

Sonny Bill Williams (1985) New Zealand rugby player and heavyweight boxer

Sonny Bill Williams regrets nothing http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/sonny-bill-williams-regrets-nothing-20131129-2yfvd.html, by Brad Walter, Sydney Morning Herald, dated 29 November 2013.

“Football is now all about money. There are problems with the values within the game. And this is sad because football is the most beautiful game. We can play it in the street. We can play it everywhere. Everyone can play it but those values are being lost. We have to bring them back.”

Johan Cruyff (1947–2016) Dutch association football player

In an interview with The Guardian's Donald McRae in September 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/12/johan-cruyff-louis-van-gaal-manchester-united.