Vigorously hearty drinking by rugby players (12)
I believe the answer is:
backslapping
'vigorously hearty' is the definition.
'backslapping' can be an answer for 'hearty' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'vigorously' bit.
'drinking by rugby players' is the wordplay.
'drinking' becomes 'lapping' (lapping is a kind of drinking).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'rugby players' becomes 'backs'.
'lapping' put after 'backs' is 'BACKSLAPPING'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for backslapping that I've seen before include "Hearty" , "Demonstratively cheery" .)