My friends Michael and Ian asked me if I wanted to watch a rugby game on Saturday. I was at the library when I received a text from Michael in the afternoon. He said they planned on meeting at the Brazen Head Irish Pub in Liberty Village for a drink and a bite to eat beforehand. Since it had been raining most of the day and the game was to be played outdoors I was a bit hesitant in going. But, the allure of drinking a beer was tempting so I said, yes. I figured if the rain didn't let up I could skip the game anyway.
Ian and Michael were already at the pub when I arrived at 5:30. Michael was well on his way through his meal by that time. It may have been the Irish Stew, but I can't be certain of that. Ian had ordered a beer and was working on it. I ordered a pint of Sam Adams. It's pretty common down in the U.S., but I don't often see it here.
After Michael finished his food, Ian decided he wanted to eat as well. So he ordered a hamburger with a spinach, strawberry and goat cheese salad. He said it was really good.
We walked over to Lamport Stadium after eating. It's about 10 minutes away from the pub at most. Ian and Michael had contacted another friend about watching the match earlier. He met us there. I can't remember his name unfortunately.
The stadium was fairly full. Though they only filled the east side stands. The west was left empty. According to the Canada Rugby League website the attendance was 3,128.
The rain held off which was good. Seating was general seating. You sat wherever you wanted after entering the stadium. Pretty much like a movie theatre.
It was my first time watching a rugby match. Ian explained there were two types of rugby - League and Union. We were watching, League. I can't remember any of the differences except that League has 13 players on the field per side, while Union has 15.
The match consists of two 40-minute long halves. It begins with one team kicking the ball to the other from centre field. The receiving team then tries to run to the opponents end zone to score a "Try". That's worth 4 points. They then try to kick the ball through the upright posts like in American football for an extra 2 points.
The game generally consists of a lot of short runs by the ball carrier. After he is tackled he passes the ball backwards to a teammate who attempts to run up the field. Every time you get tackled the other team has to back up about 5 metres (in a straight line across the field).
You can pass the ball backwards (a lateral) to any of your teammates at any time in order to avoid being tackled. If you drop the ball the other team can recover and gain possession or they can try to knock it out of your hands. If you pass the ball forwards you lose possession of the ball.
Ian said your team can only get tackled a certain number of times (maybe 5 or 6?) before you have to kick the ball away to the other team. You can kick the ball forward at any time when it's in your possession. If you recover it, it's still your ball. Most of the time the other team will get it though.
The Americans (The Tomahawks) ran roughshod over us (The Wolverines) in the first half scoring 28 unanswered points. It was pretty pathetic on our part. They seems slightly bigger, stronger and faster. We seemed to lack stamina tiring easily. I didn't see any substitutions. That may have been part of the problem.
We came back in the second half scoring 20 unanswered points of our own. It made the game more respectable even though we still lost.
It was an interesting game. I can't say it was really exciting or anything. Someone from the organization came through the stands giving away free tickets ($10 face value) for the next game on Saturday, September 28th, again against the Americans. Not sure how interested I'd be in catching it. We'll see.
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