‘Cups’ are usually called ‘boxes’, or ‘groin guards’ in Europe and are usually a simple firm plastic cover that is designed to protect a rugby player’s most vulnerable parts.
In general, outside America, rugby players do not wear cups or groin guards. In America some players do wear cups possibly as a result of their previous custom of wearing them in American football and ice hockey.
One of the reasons that the wearing of cups or boxes is not promoted in rugby is that it contravenes the laws as laid out by World Rugby.
The ruling from World Rugby is as follows (source):
- A player may not wear:
- Any item contaminated by blood.
- Any sharp or abrasive item.
- Any items containing buckles, clips, rings, hinges, zippers, screws, bolts or rigid material or projection not otherwise permitted under this law.
- Jewellery.
- Gloves.
- Shorts with padding sewn into them.
- Any item that is normally permitted in law but, in the referee’s opinion, is liable to cause injury.
- Communication devices
As you can see, boxes and cups are nor specifically mentioned, however, you may have spotted the wording ‘rigid material’. A box by its very nature is made of a rigid plastic and is therefore not approved to be worn.
In fact, you can see from the groin guards available on Amazon here, that none of them list rugby as being a sport they are suitable for. You will see them say that they are for: hockey, Thai boxing, MMA and cricket.
Clearly, World Rugby are trying to prevent unnecessary injury to players hence the wording and the ban.
That said, in thirty years of playing rugby I have never seen a referee during his pre match checking of players’ studs also check whether players are wearing boxes or not!
I therefore hazard a guess that you would get away with wearing a cup/box if you really wanted. I think at the top of the game it might end up being spotted, or noted by an opposition player at some point though.
For example, who can forget Joe Marler’s cheeky grope of Alun Wyn Jones. I think the expression on his face might have been very different if he had found a hard object there!
If players cannot wear cups/boxes then the next question to ask may well be…
Suggested reading: Are Mouthguards Compulsory?
What do rugby players wear to protect their balls?
With all the pushing, shoving, tackling and rolling around on the floor in rugby you would have though players would be wearing some sort of protection for the groin area but you would be wrong.
Nowadays, the vast majority of rugby players make do with regular supportive sports underwear. Standard elasticated material that keeps everything nicely in place providing ample flexibility for running around in.
A quick straw poll of 30 players at my local rugby club revealed that zero, yes, nobody wore a cup, or box and everyone wore some form of regular sporting underwear.
Don’t forget that rugby players generally wear very tough rugby shorts over their underwear which whilst they provide no direct protection do give some sense of feeling that the area is well looked after in general.
Personally, I have never witnessed anybody suffer a testicular injury on the field of play and I only found two studies directly related to this issue. The first one by Professor J S Lawson, School of Health Services Management, University of New South Wales reported that:
Fourteen players had testicular injuries: in 11 players this resulted in complete loss of one testicle, and in three partial loss of one or both testicles. The immediate cause of the injuries to the testicles was kicking and kneeing, usually during tackles; at least three of the injuries appeared to be intentional.
Professor J S Lawson (source)
However, a more recent study I found in the Journal of Pediatric Urology in 2019 happily concludes the following (source):
“There is little to suggest that those engaged in football or rugby have a significant risk of genitourinary injury; therefore, future guidelines should reflect this.”
Perhaps this is why there seems to be no specific protection available on the market for this area of the body in rugby. It is simply not a big enough problem.
That said, it would only take one high profile player to ‘go down’ from a blow to the balls in a big game and cups/boxes/groin protectors, like these ones on Amazon, would be all the rage!
You might also be interested in reading our article: Rugby Gloves: Rules, Legality and FAQs, here.
Do rugby players wear jocks?
A significant number of rugby players wear jocks or jockstraps as they provide the necessary flexibility and athletic support required in the modern game. Some jocks provide a pouch where a rigid cup can be inserted for protection. However, strictly speaking any rigid protection is illegal in rugby and should not be worn.
Finally, no rugby article about testicles would be complete without an honorable mention to the great New Zealand rugby player of yesteryear Wayne Shelford who famously had his scrotum torn open as the result of a viscous kick to the nuts.
“I had to get dressed, I stood up and pulled my strides down and one of the guys from across the room said ‘holy s**t, look at that!’, and one of my testicles had been ripped out of the scrotum and it was hanging between my legs.
– Wayne Shelford
He was left with one testicle hanging down but had still played on during the game! What a legend!
So, next time you cop when between the legs, unless your scrotums ripped open then you’ve no excuses for not playing on!
You might also want to read about the rules for rugby boots here.
Photo Credits
A cricket box Ralmin at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
