Rough Rugged Rugby

Yesterday I had the pleasure of a free Saturday here at Luther. The women had our track meet on Friday night at Augustana College and the men followed up with their meet on Saturday. It felt very nice to be able to relax on campus and spend time with friends who aren't in track. It was a good day to not be at a track meet because there were plenty of outdoor activities going on right here.

After practice and lunch, I headed down to the rugby pitch where games were going on. Rugby is pretty popular here at Luther as an awesome alternative for anyone to get physical and have fun. I particularly was going to watch some girls that I knew, but when I got down to the pitch I was amazed at how many men of all ages, shapes, and sizes were down there running around. Apparently there were Luther Alumni Rugby teams playing along with multiple college teams. It was neat to see how many families were around with tents and coolers, just enjoying a fun day outdoors. It reminded me of soccer tournaments I used to play in where teams and families would just plan to spend the day at the soccer complex, bringing tents, chairs, food, and games.

Now this was my first time at a rugby game so I was really lost as to what was going on. Each team had about 15 players out on the pitch and they tried to advance the ball to the other team's goal line and place the ball on the ground. To me it looked like a lot of running around, pushing people down, and craziness. I couldn't pick up on any 'plays' being run, but I'm sure some strategy was involved. At certain times throughout the game, the players from both teams had to huddle around the ball in a circular 'scrum' and somehow the ball would come out of the scrum back into play. That was interesting. Another cool thing to watch was when certain players would be lifted up by 2 teammates to try and block a pass from the other team (Well, I think that was the objective).

I'm sure all of the players returned home with lots of bruises. I saw one girl just get plowed over trying to stop the opposing team. I would not want to get in the way of those big guys. They were huge! Even though it's rough, I would love to give rugby a try sometime. Just not against the boys. And not during XC or track seasons. I need to keep my body in one piece if I can help it!