Table 4.

Themes identified through thematic analysis organised into group and illustrated by examples of quotes from participant transcripts

Group	Theme	Quote
Intervention (rugby)	Social cohesion and learning to play together	“The fact that different post codes, we’re all together, playing for each other, I think it’s really important…”
	Controlled aggression	“So it’s good self-control, you can hit someone along the lines of rugby, and they’ve just gotta walk away. Same vice versa with you.”
	Positive health behaviors	“They give you a good structure to a life already, cause you can come out with skills, qualifications, a hobby, and a routine, which I think is what you need to live a fairly organized and fulfilling life.”
	People around you (associates)	“It’s seeing someone else succeed, or someone like, where they’ve come from change.”
	Challenges of release and finding support	“What people say, when you get out, all the plans go away, that’s the hardest thing about it, you’ve got to really stick to it.”
No intervention	Inevitability of crime	“I knew, even when I was on road, doing what I was doing, I knew there was a time I would come jail…”
	Lack of support	“Literally, they just put you into the big, bad world to fend for yourself. And that’s why I think like a lot of youths feel hard done by. I feel like that—I felt like that.”
	Financial incentives	“If you’ve got older in the area, making money…driving flash cars, being with like loads of girls and stuff, you wanna get some of that as well.”
	Role models	“If you see people around you that are going towards crime and less people are going towards the normal life…then you’re gonna just think “oh that’s just—I guess that’s the way.”