A few years ago, I had the chance to chat with Coach Paul Keeler who has been the head coach for numerous rugby programs, including Santa Clara University. As a full-time coach, he shared with me that in a given week, he watches many hours of rugby footage available on numerous cable outlets. What he can gain is a deeper understanding of the game as well as nuances of the law and growing trends. He highly recommended all of his players watch as much rugby as possible! This is something he felt strongly would help anyone become a better player, coach, or referee.
So, my “homework” for all the student-athletes out there is to try to watch at least one or two professional matches a month. Watch your particular position - see what the top players are doing and think about how it can apply to your game.
Many can be found on stations like The Rugby Network, FloRugby, Peacock , or even by doing a quick search on YouTube. Simply watching more rugby will help improve your game!