We are avid crossword puzzlers and have easily filled in the five-letter word for 'rugby field maneuver'' with only a dim idea what a 'scrum' was. We are about to find out. It's Saturday morning and we're off to a real live rugby match - our first ever!! Paul is delighted (dare I say smug with just a touch of gloating) that after many nights of bridge instruction with us in the know, he is now the rugby expert and we his eager students.
Here he is demonstrating the proper way to throw a rugby ball - a two-handed, sideways, underhand maneuver (executed while running flat out!)
Rugby is a lot like American football but since soccer all over the world is called 'football', rugby is, well, rugby. I think some British wag described rugby as a bunch of toffs acting like ruffians and soccer as a bunch of ruffians acting life toffs.
At the local rugby pitch (field) four teams are about to face-off for cash prizes in something called '7's'. Each team has seven players (plus three substitutes) and they play for 10 minutes a half, 20 minutes in total. It's intense and exhausting (remember it's about 95 degrees and moisture is literally dripping off the banana leaves). Their gear consists of shoes, socks, matching shorts and shirts. No helmets, no pads, no face guards, nada; this is bare knuckle ball, folks. Not for the faint of heart.
This team was warming up and it looked a lot like the hokey pokey to me ('put your left hand in, put your left hand out . . . ')
Paul tells us that the Fijian rugby players are first rate and rank with the best players worldwide. That's confirmed when a man in the stands (whom we learn is from Brisbane, Australia) is boldly going on the field, taking photos of various players. Day-Glo baseball cap, next to Debbie - he's a scout.
Paul is a good teacher and we catch on pretty quickly. Object: get the ball (much like a bloated football) over the end line, score the equivalent of the conversion point(s) and try not to get your self obliterated by a half-ton of high speed flesh in the process.
Back to the scrum - after a minor infraction, four players from each team form a scrum - sort of like a jump ball in basketball only there are eight players competing for the ball rather than two and the ball's on the ground, not in the air.
These eight players huddle in a semi-oval formation, arms around each others' shoulders, heads down and one player puts the ball in the middle of this mass and all the players try and kick it into their portion of the pitch where it can be picked up and run with. Once the ball leaves the scrum, it's fair game.
It's fast, it's intense, and very demanding - think soccer, coupled with the full-body plays of American football absent all protective gear. The first game goes quickly, one team clearly dominant, and the next pair of teams takes the field. That game is halted when a player is carried off the field with what looks like a very nasty ankle injury. There is one first aid worker with the tiniest first aid kit ever that appears to contain a few bandages and a leather thong for the injured player to chomp down on when she tries to push his ankle back into place!
Not a food or drink vendor in sight - just a whole bunch of locals come to cheer on their teams.
Now, is there a cricket match we can attend??
PS - Scrum is short for scrummage. Is that where we got the word 'scrimmage'?
PPS - Any errors in my narrative are mine and not attributable to our teacher!
Here he is demonstrating the proper way to throw a rugby ball - a two-handed, sideways, underhand maneuver (executed while running flat out!)
Rugby is a lot like American football but since soccer all over the world is called 'football', rugby is, well, rugby. I think some British wag described rugby as a bunch of toffs acting like ruffians and soccer as a bunch of ruffians acting life toffs.
At the local rugby pitch (field) four teams are about to face-off for cash prizes in something called '7's'. Each team has seven players (plus three substitutes) and they play for 10 minutes a half, 20 minutes in total. It's intense and exhausting (remember it's about 95 degrees and moisture is literally dripping off the banana leaves). Their gear consists of shoes, socks, matching shorts and shirts. No helmets, no pads, no face guards, nada; this is bare knuckle ball, folks. Not for the faint of heart.
This team was warming up and it looked a lot like the hokey pokey to me ('put your left hand in, put your left hand out . . . ')
Paul tells us that the Fijian rugby players are first rate and rank with the best players worldwide. That's confirmed when a man in the stands (whom we learn is from Brisbane, Australia) is boldly going on the field, taking photos of various players. Day-Glo baseball cap, next to Debbie - he's a scout.
Paul is a good teacher and we catch on pretty quickly. Object: get the ball (much like a bloated football) over the end line, score the equivalent of the conversion point(s) and try not to get your self obliterated by a half-ton of high speed flesh in the process.
Back to the scrum - after a minor infraction, four players from each team form a scrum - sort of like a jump ball in basketball only there are eight players competing for the ball rather than two and the ball's on the ground, not in the air.
These eight players huddle in a semi-oval formation, arms around each others' shoulders, heads down and one player puts the ball in the middle of this mass and all the players try and kick it into their portion of the pitch where it can be picked up and run with. Once the ball leaves the scrum, it's fair game.
It's fast, it's intense, and very demanding - think soccer, coupled with the full-body plays of American football absent all protective gear. The first game goes quickly, one team clearly dominant, and the next pair of teams takes the field. That game is halted when a player is carried off the field with what looks like a very nasty ankle injury. There is one first aid worker with the tiniest first aid kit ever that appears to contain a few bandages and a leather thong for the injured player to chomp down on when she tries to push his ankle back into place!
Not a food or drink vendor in sight - just a whole bunch of locals come to cheer on their teams.
Now, is there a cricket match we can attend??
PS - Scrum is short for scrummage. Is that where we got the word 'scrimmage'?
PPS - Any errors in my narrative are mine and not attributable to our teacher!
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