Driven forward, rugby player screamed when losing yard (9)
I believe the answer is:
propelled
'driven forward' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with contact as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'rugby player screamed when losing yard' is the wordplay.
'rugby player' becomes 'prop' (type of rugby player).
'screamed' becomes 'yelled' ('yell' can be a synonym of 'scream').
'when losing' is a deletion indicator.
'yard' becomes 'y' (abbreviation).
'yelled' with 'y' taken out is 'elled'.
'prop'+'elled'='PROPELLED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for propelled that I've seen before include "Driven forwards" , "Moved forward (by something)" .)