The USA Plays International Rugby?
September 13, 2007 by Extra P.
Indeed we do. Our national team is called The Eagles, and they are currently playing in the Rugby World Cup in France. This is an event that probably completely escapes our notice year in and year out, but as access to technology shrinks the world, we can expect to hear more about it.
My initial introduction to Rugby was via my college roommate. He was named Hans, and he played on the University of Kansas club team. I never once went to a game, but I saw him come home with his ears taped to his head so they wouldn’t fall off, gashes under his eyes, and gimpy knees. I also woke up to drunken singing and cursing in a Kiwi accent one night, so I guess he invited some of the other guys over from time to time. Anyway, suffice to say, I never caught the fever.
Since then, I’ve become a sports blogger. I have chosen to be a generalist, and to often focus on the obscure, so something like Rugby is now right up my alley. When I started reading truly knowledgeable and excited Rugby World Cup coverage over at With Malice and Shot to Nothing, I knew it was time to pay attention. If you can’t get excited to root for your national team, you’re just not trying, right?
My first attempt to talk about the sport was the post titled Rugby vs. Football = Apples vs. Oranges. It was my attempt to quell the debate that one sport was more “manly” than another, simply by pointing out that the intent in each was so different that the question is really rendered moot. The post was not an overnight success, but rarely does a week go by without a passionate advocate of either sport adding his comment, which is very gratifying indeed, and very educational.
Explaining rugby via the video game medium. This is perfect…
When I watched USA vs. England, there were a great many elements of the game that were immediately clear to me. The scoring run, where a player dodges, stiff-arms, and tries to touch the ball down for a “try”, is very much like it is in American football, and every bit as thrilling to watch. Tackling, lateral passes to teammates, kicks through the posts for three points…. check. There was enough familiarity there to keep me engaged.
Top ten rugby hits via youtube.
The confusing aspects will require more study, though I don’t by any means see them as deal-breakers. For instance, I had always thought that a scrum only happened after stoppages in play, sort of like a face-off in hockey. But I often saw a man get tackled to the ground, and a scrum form over his crumpled body immediately (after watching the video above, I learned that was a ruck). I also couldn’t tell exactly when kicking the ball was 1) allowed, and 2) tactically expedient within the flow of the game. There were running kicks that seemed meant to advance the ball (no forward passes) and then tee kicks for points. But still, nothing a quick tutorial wouldn’t solve.
A great try, as narrated by the English guy from the Jeffersons. (What?)
Better yet, a novice could sit down and actually watch a USA game with a friend who knows the game. That’s what Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog did. Finding a bar that plays Setanta network outside of a major metropolitan area might be a bit difficult, though.
I am opting for a third course. I will watch games whenever feasible (my sattelite provider carries Setanta, which I didn’t know until this project came to mind), read Don’s coverage, and attempt to allay my ignorance with research on the fly.
The timing of the RWC is unfortunate. Americans have been slavering for the start of our own football season for months, and there is precious little time in our viewing schedules for rugby, especially with our Eagles, predictably, struggling against more experienced and talented groups. However, if you happen to catch a match on a barren Wednesday night, why not give it a try? There’s beer, there’s hitting, there’s great team names, and there’s national pride on the line.
What’s not to like?
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Rugby resources:
Wow… two mentions (Don is from With Malice…)!!!
Can recommend another US Eagles fan to you as well, who writes from the perspective of being a female fan of US rugby - Blondie over at http://saturdayrugbyday.blogspot.com/
Good reads there too.
Fantastic that there’s a new fan in the making - I really think that if more folks watched it, they’d like it. It harkens back to a day where sport was just a tad more brutal!
Great article Extra P.
Go Wallabies!
Don
Note: the US plays two more games…
26th September vs Samoa at 8pm (local time in France)
30th September vs South Africa at 8pm (local time in France)
I did kind of drop your real name without pointing out who I was talking about, didn’t I? Heh heh.
[...] Extra P from The Extrapolater shares his growing fondness for rugby in The USA Plays International Rugby? [...]
I love watching a good rugby match. I watched some college matches in person and this was just some college kids playing and you could tell they were hitting pretty hard.
Versus, yes the old OLN channel that brought us coverage of the NHL this past year will also be showing matches taped delayed by 48 hrs. No, I don’t work for them, just want to spread the word in hopes of getting more coverage via cable instead of having to go shill out $20 for cover charge.
Also, thanks for helping promote the sport.
I’m sorry, I tried to read this, but I was distracted by THE THIGHS.
Some of the guys on the game I watched had the type of absurd muscle-on-muscle physiques only seen on comic book heroes.
It’s funny you did this post… I was thinking of watching the Rugby World Cup to support the Argentina team… I’ve been following the coverage over at this Argentine website, after walking past a bar that was advertising the Rugby World Cup.
I remember having a conversation at a bar a couple of years ago with a British guy who was really into it - he kept explaining the rules to my girlfriend, and I kept nodding and pretend like I already knew that. Most of it does make sense, but there are definitely some WTF moments that made me feel like… a (non-sporty) girl watching a sporting event with her boyfriend or something! “Why are they doing that?” “What just happened?”
Given that, that You Tube was quite helpful.
I absolutely love that I learned more about Rugby by watching a video game tutorial than I ever have from any other medium.
it’s a great sport; thanks for giving it some badly needed pr.
Hi. You asked about when a player will kick. A player can kick from hand whenever they want to. Generally they will kick when deep in their own half to relieve pressure or sometimes to expolit gaps in the opposition defense. Kicking from a tee is after a penalty has been awarded and when the kicker thinks he is close enough to kick the ball through the posts - and get three points.
The try you show in your blog is fantastic. Here’s one that was scored quite a while ago and is reckoned to be one of the best. The main action is preceded by some pretty aimless kicking, but when the handling movement starts it becomes sensational. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwCbG4I0QyA
While the Eagles didn’t win a game at this World Cup they finished the England match clearly the stronger - and look where England have managed to get now - into the final in just five days time. Hope the Eagles go from strength to strength
Thanks, Kevin. As long as we see progress, I’m happy with what the Eagles are doing. It won’t be an overnight change, I imagine.
“A great try, as narrated by the English guy from the Jeffersons. (What?)”
Surely a great try….but can’t you guys hear the difference between an Englöish and a South African accent? THAT is the first rule of Rugby!
I’m definitely getting some slap-back from this post being read without the context of my daily bloggings. I wrote a post with serious intent, but included my usual absurd bits of humor, and it’s not translating well.
With that said, the only time I remember hearing a South African accent in the U.S. was in Lethal Weapon 2, and all I can remember is the bank agent saying “But… you’re blick!”, so my tracking of accents is in the bottom 1th percentile.