Well,the World Cup is on at the moment,so you can watch plenty of rugby. You won't be thrown in at the deep end. You need to be shown how to tackle properly,and how to scrum (if you're a forward),to avoid injury.
Once you know the basics,rugby is easy,and no where near as violent as it used to be,when I played in the 60's & 70's.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.