RSAA Colloquia / Seminars / Feast-of-Facts: Friday, 05 February 2016, 14:00-14:20; Duffield Lecture Theatre


Fiona Panther

"Odd Shaped Balls - The physics of Rugby"

To celebrate the impending start of the Super Rugby season, I’ll spend a short while describing some of the more interesting aspects of the physics of rugby union. Hopefully I’ll manage to convince you all that not only is rugby union a fascinating sport, but there are lots of opportunities to use some of the more out-of-left-field applications of physics in developing teaching and lesson plans for high school and undergraduate students. No prior knowledge of rugby necessary - I will give a brief overview of the rules of the game before launching into the science.