Rugby: Ruf and Tuf

I had seen rugby lot of times before on the tele, but it never intrested me mainly because I hardly understood the game and at that time it looked more like an attacking sport where the teams brutally attacked each other just for the sake of getting hold of a ball.

My interest for the game started last year during the Asian Games held in Doha. I had gone to watch the rugby match at the stadium just because India was participating in the event. I didn't even know India had a rugby team until I saw the match brochure. Few minutes into the match, I slowly rolled down my Indian flag and slipped it inside my jacket because the Indians were getting massacred on the pitch by their opponents and there seemed no point in cheering India. The final score: 75 - 0. Clearly the Indian team was new to the game just like me. I was shocked to learn that our neighbours, Srilanka had a strong rugby team and they play club level rugby regularly in Srilanka. A Srilankan supporter sitting near to me was kind enough to explain to me about scrum, rugby 7, ... etc, in short the game of rugby. That is how I stumbled into the world of Rugby.

The recent Rugby World Cup 2007 in France got me more intrested into the game with some thrilling matches in the Knockout phase. The entertainment was complete when South Africa won the Final against England. Rugby is a contact sport and injuries are expected to be really bad that 6 days of rest is given for the teams between matches. Even though professional rugby players look well built to absorb the aggressive attacks and rams, most of them are injured and badly bruised. Once the match starts, its like a war out there. I have never seen women play rugby, but I learned there are lot of women who are rugby fans, maybe because they like to see hunks get aggressive and brutal. Sexy or not, I would prefer to watch this macho game from the sidelines.