Rugby explained properely by a former captain of the sport

[Some corrections of my faulty account of Rugby sent on by a former Rugby captain via a friend. South Africa beat England yesterday, 15-6:

http://www.nytimes.com/iht/2007/10/20/sports/21rugbycup.html?ref=sports

Ed Kent}

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Understanding Rugby
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:34:21 -0700
From: Laura X -G4-
To: Ekent@brooklyn.cuny.edu

(hi there Ed, here is former rugby captain from England to help you out)

===============================

You can if you want, but I didn't wish to disappoint his obvious fond
memories of his rugger days.

I am reminded of the anonymous quotation:

Soccer is a game for gentlemen, played by hooligans.
Whereas rugby is a game for hooligans, played by gentlemen

jgf

>are you sending this to Ed, or am i ,, or none of the above
>?
>
>>The final of the Rugby World Cup will be fought out in Paris this
>>Saturday between Britain and South Africa. For those who don't
>>know the game, it is a sort of hybrid between soccer and football
>>(American expressions) that was invented by the British Public
>>(really private) School of that name back when. Our American
>>football evolved from it and is now a very different species.
>>
>>For the uninitiated Rugby is played by teams that lock horns at
>>various points in what are called scrums when the two sides line up
>>two deep
>
>actually three deep
>
>>to shove each other as the ball is tossed down the line between
>>them by a referee
>
>wrong, "shoved in" by the scrum half of the team that DIDN'T inflict
>the error.
>
>>. One team has a central figure who tries to kick the ball to the
>>back fielders who then start running towards the goal lines.
>
>Wrong, the eight forwards (who also form the scrum when an
>infringement occurs) attempt to get the ball who then back-kick it
>out of the scrum, or pass it out of a line-out to the scrum half,
>who determines the flow of the game and where the team to should aim
>to run to score a touch-down. He then passes it to the fly-half, who
>then can pass it out to the four three-quarters, who are the actual
>flee-footed chaps who attempt to score. Behind the three-quarters is
>the full back who follows behind and defends the goal.
>
>> These back fielders, as tacklers approach them, can lateral the
>>ball to fellow back fielders -- but only backwards. A forward
>>lateral brings a penalty.
>>
>>The teams are not shielded as in American football with padded
>>equipment, so that tackling is generally softer than the American
>>version -- around the ankles rather than mid body which can be a
>>real jolt for both tackler and tacked (I learned the hard way when
>>playing the game at Rugby's principal competitor school, Uppingham,
>>where I was an exchange student) -- reinjured an old wrist thing
>>from having played American football the year before in high school.
>>
>>The principal injury that one can receive in Rugby is what is
>>called the Rugby ear -- one's ears get jammed against the butts of
>>fellow players when one is shoving in the scrum. I acquired one. I
>>think they wear a protective something now to prevent that -- does
>>not affect hearing.
>>
>>One can kick the ball under certain circumstances for a goal, but I
>>forget the details -- I think it is a sort of drop kick.
>
>Basically the ball has to bounce first when it is dropped and then
>one kicks it. Hence the term drop-kick.
>
>> One can obviously pick up the ball which one cannot do in soccer.
>
>But one CANNOT pass forward which is the main difference between the
>royal game of Rugby and the colonists poor imitation.
>
>By the way, it is NOT Britain who is in the finals but ENGLAND.
>
>jgf
>from a former Rugby team school captain who hasn't touched the
>leather in nearly forty years.
>
>>Enjoy the finals. Rugby has not spread widely in this country, but
>>there is a group trying to get it going in Manhattan, if they can
>>find a proper playing field.
>>--
>>"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms
>>is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by
>>Machiavelli)
>>--
>>Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]

--
Laura X, founder/director of the former
National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape
Women's History Library
(510) 524-1582 Berkeley, Ca.
WEB SITE: http://ncmdr.org
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/440neighborhood
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StudentConcerns
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AcademicFreedom
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PrivacyRights
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FindingHumaneJobs
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net