Because I'm feeling silly and happy!

Anja's introductory guide to rugby:
(for my clueless friends in the Netherlands and elsewhere)

Rugby is played by a bunch of men built like brick outhouses.
Now and then you will see a smaller, slender player. They can either kick like a mule and never miss, or they are really fast and maneuverable little runners. Even so, they often are regarded as sissies especially when they blow-dry their hair and have their hairdresser put in sun-streaks!!

Right, now there's these players, and then there is the ball. Contrary to expectations this thing is not round but oval with pointy edges. The reason for this is lost in the mists of time and nobody really knows - though men always pretend they do and that it's entirely logical.

The game starts. The players thunder after whoever has this ball in his hands and pile on top of him - as violently as possible. Somehow, the ball is wriggled out of this mash of humans and the next player picks it up, only to be dive-bombed by another avalanche of heavy players. Now and then, the ball is kicked out of the field and then the players stand in two rows as the ball is thrown back into play and one of the players will then catch the ball. Again, human avalanche. Often the referee will tell them to do the pileup in an organised fashion. This is called a scrum, it's like the full frontal collision of human tanks.
Occasionally the avalanche will happen too late and the surprised player will run off with the ball. Scared shitless, he will throw it to the next player in line who will offload it as soon as possible to the next one. Until the avalanche catches up and hits the poor bastard who is left holding the ball.

Now and then, a player will end up on the far end of the field through no fault of his own and will thump the ball down. That brings in points for his team and many drunken cheers from the fans. This is called a try and it's always puzzled me why it should be so - when the ball is thumped down, the player is no longer trying to do it, he's done it! But, there you go. You expect logic in a game that uses a pointy ball??? Anyhow, back to scoring. What happens more often, is that the referee will be ticked off when some rule of avalanche is broken, and will award a penalty kick to the other team. One of the small guys with blow-dried hair will then trot forward and kick the ball through the middle of poles standing on the back sideline. Everyone is quite happy when that happens and they get awarded points.

This goes on for a while. Then there is halftime, they take a short break, mop up the blood and go on to the second half.

Almost all injuries -and there are legion- are treated with water and tape. It's not considered a serious injury unless the bone is sticking through the skin. At the end of a good game, all clothing should wear an interesting melange of blood and grass and mud.

Men love this game. Mostly they love it from the sidelines or on the couch, with staggering amounts of beer.

It's good clean fun