ABSTRACT
The chapters in this book have all attested to the links between rugby and the social construction of masculine identities at one level or another. While the links between rugby and masculinity have remained strong in the past century and a half, we should not think of that link as a given or as some transhistorical constant. The specific links between rugby and what it means to 'be a man' are not fixed. Having said this, however, it is precisely through the use of history that rugby (and similar physical male-dominated team sports) has been promoted in recent years in order to sustain or repackage a masculine hegemony. New Zealand and South Mrica provide excellent case studies of the relationship between sport, masculine hegemony and a nostalgic history in the promotion of certain types of identities and qualities in the face of rapid social, political and economic transformations. Much more work remains to be done on the links between social and individual memory and the promotion of certain 'pasts' and 'presents', but this chapter attempts to explore some of the recent aspects of the role of rugby in contemporary societies in New Zealand and South Africa. The relationships also exist for other sports in other countries and it is hoped that these insights can be applied to other case studies.
