The MANS version of American Football

By Printwizard on Oct. 16, 2011
Forums: 
General Discussions

The Rugby World Cup 2011 - worlds fourth biggest sporting event is on in New Zealand, last night the mighty All Blacks (my team!) downed Australia 20:6 to make the final against France who they already beat in pool play. France have a habit of big games against the NZ All Blacks but on form you wouldn't bet on them this year. Australia and Wales play off for second and third.
The USA eagles team played valiantly again, great game against Russia this tournament.

Just seeing if there are any Rugby Union fans of the international game out there???.:p

Location: 
United States
srimonogramming's picture
Submitted by srimonogramming on Mon, 10/17/2011 - 11:30

I played rugby in college. I was on the team for an entire year and I still don't know all of the rules of the game.

I was walking through campus my first year and these rugby players came up to me and asked me if I was fast, and I can't remember what I told them but they invited me out to practice that night and that was a crazy experience. The coach (a New Zealander) was doing his thing and yelling and screaming at everyone and he turned around and saw me standing there watching. I had no idea what was going on and he grabbed me by the back of the neck and said "what the F are you doing here boy, get your a s s out there and show me what you got"! I then told him I didn't know the first thing about the rules and he said "you'll learn soon enough". They ran me over and gave me the ball every chance they got and by the end of practice, I was on the team. Instead of my original plans of trying to walk on to the football team or baseball team, I was a rugby player and drinking beer out of my shoe at the local bars after practice. I was no pansy before I joined, but I had some seriously hard bark on me after that year. Seemed like every weekend we were getting into a fight with another fraternity or team on campus, we were the red headed step children on campus and had to fight all the time because of that.

I worked full time while in school so I didn't get to travel all that much with the team for away games which was a blast, and we got our as sses kicked most every Saturday. We weren't D-1, but we played a lot of D-1 schools and it showed on the scoreboard. I think we won 3 games the only year I played and it seemed like all of us were always hurt. Good memories though, I will never forget how fun that was, the game was ok too :).

Submitted by Printwizard on Mon, 10/17/2011 - 16:36

Hey Alan, love the story! All sports have them but I love that rugby is Global. I have tickets to Wales v Australia on the weekend, and was hoping they would have been in the final, they deserved it, pity about the refereeing, but they were courageous in nearly winning with a man down. Rugby is a crazy game, without the padding and subbing. 80 minutes of hard running and crunching tackles. There is another form called 7's (seven a side) and ey play a weekend in the US with about 70 international teams on a world circuit. That is a very fast version and entertaining also.

On another note pity about Dan Weldon, I followed him with our own Scott Dixon when they raced for Ginassi. That was a shocking crash, but with motorsport I suppose it's part of the risk of competing.

Submitted by Printwizard on Sat, 10/22/2011 - 17:09

In 10 hours the mighty NZ All Blacks will kick off at Eden Park against "Les Blues". France have beaten NZ too many times in big games to be complacent, but four million kiwis are hoping we can get past the label of chokers. Virtually every year NZ has the top ranking in world rugby but it's been 24 years since we have last held the world cup. Regardless this tournament has been fantastic as we have hosted 16 teams and maybe 100,000 supporters. This has been the biggest party and in our country it's a great pick-me-up after earthquakes and the economic gloom. Not to mention all the printed shirts and merchandise and tourist wear...... Anyway, got to go and get ready for a big evening.

Submitted by Printwizard on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 23:28

I just come back from the parade, a little worse for wear, man what a huge party last night. That was a very close game, most people were picking it by 30 points, but 8-7 is a very low close game, the French came to win it and they played hard. My liver is a little worse for wear, and my nails are completely bitten!.
Earl, Germany is unusual for a follower, what's your story?

Submitted by Earl Smith on Mon, 10/24/2011 - 04:04

10 in the morning here ( Germany) and 10(?) in the evening in NZ.
I am English but live in Germany. Very happy here as well. I played Rugby at school, I wasnt any good but I enjoy watching the game.
I enjoyed the game yesterday, happy NZ won but they were very lucky with the ref. Ignoring high tackles and almost always giving the benefit of the doubt to NZ. But they won and thats the main thing.

Earl

2024 © DigitSmith | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Contact