Rugby

On Sunday there was a Rugby match in Bath. It was Bath v. Worcester and we kicked butt, if I do say so myself. Our whole program met at 1:30 in front of the Huntsman (a local pub) and walked to the game together. It was basically like going to a Red Sox game... except in England. The fans were all really excited and drinking and just generally having a good time. There was a little boy sitting near us who was clearly being taught the rules by his dad or older brother, which was really cute. None of us knew anything about rugby, so Ian (one of our peer helper people) was kind enough to explain it to us. Basically, your team had to get the rugby to the other teams end zone (like football). You can run with the ball, but you can only pass is backward. If you get the ball to the end zone and touch it to the ground you get five points. Then someone has to kick it through those poles for an extra two points (but they have to kick it from hard angles, because the kick begins at whatever spot that the ball crossed the end zone line). If you kick the ball through anytime besides the extra point, it's worth three points. The timer only stops if the ball goes out of play (it does not stop for injuries or for fouls). Then someone throws it in and the guys in play lift each other up by the shorts to try to catch the ball. If there's a foul committed then they make a "scrum" which is basically a bunch of guys lining up and trying to plow each other over for the ball. A person on the team who was the victim of the foul throws the ball into the scrum and attempts to help his teammates to get the ball, while the other team is trying to get it away. The guys on the outside of the scrum have to connect within so many seconds or it's a foul... because if they don't connect the inside of the scum falls in and people break their necks. Ian said he has two friends who are paralyzed from playing rugby, because of that exact situation. Also, you aren't allowed to tackle someone above the neck. There are a lot more rules than that, but those are all that I could learn in one game. All in all, we had a lovely afternoon of watching men try to kill each other, it was great fun!