Rugby player arriving empty devoured spread (9)
I believe the answer is:
propagate
'spread' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'rugby player arriving empty devoured' is the wordplay.
'rugby player' becomes 'prop' (type of rugby player).
'empty' means to remove the middle letters.
'devoured' becomes 'ate' (to devour is to eat).
'arriving' with its centre taken out is 'ag'.
'prop'+'ag'+'ate'='PROPAGATE'
(Other definitions for propagate that I've seen before include "Increase by natural process" , "Publicise" , "diffuse" , "Promote (an idea) widely" , "widely spread" .)