Game at 5.30pm: meet at O’Connell House at 4.15 sharp.
Dress code: Dress as warmly as possible: It could be cold! Layer up! Gloves! Coats! More layers! If you have a hat, scarf or cap, wear it..
Background. The current Irish rugby team is considered to be the best we have ever had. It won the Grand Slam - defeating all five countries it normally plays each year- for the first time since 1949. Brian O’Driscoll at 13, the Irish captain, is widely regarded as the greatest ever Irish rugby player. Other stars include the workhorse No 8 Jimmy Heaslip, the up-and-coming No. 10 Johnny Sexton from Rathmines, the No 12 Goron Darcy, a Wexfordman and current UCD student, and the free running Full Back - No. 15 Rob Kearney. The No. 10, Jonathan Sexton is a celebrated kicker - the No 10 or Outhalf position is like being ‘a quarterback with a boot’. Another young Irish player Cian [pronounced Keen] Healy is a recent grad. of my sons’ school, Belvedere.
The current New Zealand team are uinversally regarded as the best team in the world. The match tomorrow stars some of the finest players ever to step on a rugby pitch- notably their No. 7 Richie McCaw, their teak tough 13 Mai’a Nonu, and their prodigiously gifted No 10 Dan Carter. There is huge interest in the game, and we are lucky to get tickets for it.
The New Zealand pre-match ritual the Haka is justifiably considered the most famous – and brilliant - of pre-match rituals. It is an old Maori war dance complete with throat slitting and crotch-holding gestures which leave opponents in very little doubt that there is a tough time coming their way soon.
Rugby for Dummies By BILL RAYBURN [An American!!!][OK -I added some more detail too!!! [KW]
Most American know at least one very specific fact about rugby: We don't want to play it. But for the moment, move past the visceral fear of a cranial collision with another human, and you will gain an understanding of this ancient sport. Peter Winder writes, "Rugby provides a suitable outlet for the controlled release of any frustration or aggression within the structured framework of sport."
And legalized mayhem it is. There are no pads or helmets worn in rugby, and the collisions are often brutal collisions, of a high speed nature. Size is an advantage, but not as much as one might think. A quicker, smaller player can be invaluable. Injuries are accepted as part of the game. One is expected to play on even if hurt if at all possible. Clearly rugby is a sport for the lion, not the faint-hearted.
The terminology and jargon is revealing: scrum, ruck, maul, hooker. It sounds rough and it is, although there is much more to it, and modern rugby is a highly sophisticated tactical game. Here are the basics:
The game involves 15 players per side. The 15 positions include 8 forwards [numbered 1-8], a scrumhalf [9], an out half [10] halfbacks, 2 centers [12-13], 2 wings- [11 & 14], and 1 fullback [15].
The field, called a "pitch," is much wider and longer than an American football pitch.
The object of the game is to score as many points as possible by carrying, passing or kicking a leather oval ball, about twice the size of a football, toward the scoring zone at the far end of the pitch called the in-goal area, akin to an end zone in football. Grounding the ball (literally touching it to the turf with downward pressure of the hands or hand in the in-goal area) results in a try (score), worth 5 points. Tries are the big momentum switchers in a game.
A conversion attempt follows, a kick off the ground from 25 yards out but exactly parallel with where the try was scored - that puts a lot more pressure on the kicker than in American football, as many tries are scored out wide to the touchline. If the ball is kicked through the uprights, 2 more points are awarded. The ball is then kicked back to the other team from the half way line and play resumes.
Points may also be scored from a drop kick during play - no easy feat with 30 guys swarming around - or a penalty kick, which is awarded after breaches of rules are spied by the single referee. Yes, believe it or not, there is only one referee on the field to monitor the actions of 30 players. If the drop or penalty kick is successful, it is worth 3 points.
Here are some basic rugby rules that might raise more questions than answers:
There are no "downs," as in football, nor is a "first down" required to maintain possession. In fact, possession can be exchanged often and quickly and turn-overs are frequent. There are few long, sustained "drives" toward the in-goal area- although the All-Blacks [guess why they are called that?] are masters at retaining possession, especially through their groundhog Richie McCaw who is unbelievably proficient at turning over opposition ball when it goes to the deck. Progress up and down the field is achieved grudgingly, usually in short chunks.
The ball may not be passed forward from the hands, though it may be kicked forward. Players cannot be tackled unless they possess the ball. Once in possession of the coveted leather oval, one is fair game, dead meat, or an endangered species. Rugby supporters like nothing better than a big hit on an opposing player.
Once the player is tackled to the ground, he is expected to release the ball. A common penalty is for ‘not releasing’ - ‘holding on to the ball after the tackle’ - usually for fear that the opposition will win it.
[The South African Number 7 Richie McCaw, is a famous exponent of winning the ball on the ground from a tackled player]. Players need to reach their teammate very quickly once he is tackled and drive the opposing players back off the ball. This contest, called a ruck, is where the dark arts of the game are most fiercely practiced. Players wear cups to protect their vital assets and eye-gouging and ear biting are not unknown - hence the leather scrumcaps that some wear. The ferocity of the ruck is almost primal, and the primary means of retaining and winning possession. “Turn-over Ball’- where you win possession in a ruck after the opposition carried the ball into in - is highly prized, and often supplies the most dangerous attacking opportunities. The All-Balcks are deadly when they get quick ball. You are not allowed to play the ball with your hands once you are on the ground, but you can if you are still on your feet. Players are not allowed to enter the ruck from the side - only from behind the last foot of the players in it.
A maul is the same as a ruck, except that all the players grappling for the ball are still on the feet. A ‘Rolling Maul’ is one where the team with the ball are advancing rapidly - the current Irish team are expert exponents of this tactic. The opposition is not allowed to deliberately pull down a rolling maul.
Play stops only when there is an infringement, or the ball is kicked out of bounds, or when a try is scored.
When the ball goes out over the sideline, a line-out results, where the opposing players line up perpendicular to the sideline and jump for the ball as it is thrown back in play (similar to a jump ball in basketball). The players are allowed to hoist a teammate high into the air to better reach the ball. The throw in to the lineout is by a player from the team who didn’t kick it out. The throw is meant to be straight but a clever thrower will always advantage his own team. Teams would expect to gain possession on their own throw. Usually a really tall player knocks the ball back with his hand to the small light agile scrumhalf, who then initiates the attacking plays.
Penalties, which range from tackling too high [no clothes lining] to being offsides (a player further downfield than the ball) can result in either a free kick for the other team or a scrum.
What, exactly, is a "scrum"? Each team's 8 forwards [the big burly bruisers on the team] link arms over their shoulders on opposite curves of a circle, like a huge round centipede at cannibalistic war with itself.
After the forwards are locked together, the No 9 - (Scrumhalf) - carefully rolls the ball into the center of the scrum: again it is meant to be straight but it is 99% crooked so the team with the Put In to the scrum should always win it. Once in the scrum, the ball cannot be touched by hand. Each team has a "hooker" in the front of the scrum, a player positioned forward of his teammates, who tries to hook his foot around the ball and drag it behind him, where his teammates then caterpillar it with their feet until it squirts out the back of the scrum. Then the scrumhalf picks it up and initiates play. The scrumhalf is always the smallest, quickest and usually craftiest player. He is a major playmaker as he has to decide whether to run, kick or pass. At times too, a team may elect to gain ground by pushing the opposition backwards in the scrum.
The game consists of two 40-minute halves, with a brief half-time break. There are no time-outs, save for an injury. Tactical substitutions are allowed, usually occurring after about 60 minutes when you need fresh impetus.
