To be completely honest, I know nothing about rugby. The only time I have seen rugby is after soccer on Saturday mornings, playing Rugby 18 once on the PlayStation, and they played it once on the Bachelorette and Luke P. made people really mad. Though I have never seriously watched it and have no idea what is going on, I found myself intrigued by the Rugby World Cup that occurred in Japan this fall. As I scanned through YouTube, I kept running across highlights from different matches and even found myself thinking about getting up at 4:30 am to watch the final. I didn’t actually get up, but I thought about it.
Unlike the Cricket World Cup, which did not include the United States, the USA Eagles made it into the field at the Rugby World Cup, but were unable to make it out of pool play. While teams like the USA and Russia failed to even get a point in the group, traditional powerhouses like England, Wales, and New Zealand cruised to the knockout round.
The semifinals included the teams ranked 1-4 in the world: the three mentioned earlier, as well as the number 1 ranked team in the world, South Africa. There’s not much balance in rugby, as the only teams to win the World Cup in previous years are those four teams, plus Australia, who was ranked 5th in the world. However, in a surprising upset, England knocked off the defending champions New Zealand in the semifinals. In the other semifinal, South Africa knocked off Wales 19-16 to set up a date with England in the final. Though the two semifinals were close, the final was a blowout, with South Africa dominating England and capturing the title with a 32-12 win.
Looking back on the final, it’s not surprising to see South Africa as the champions because they were favored to win, but what I enjoyed most about the Rugby World Cup was learning the cool nicknames of each of the countries. Australia are the Wallabees, New Zealand are the All Blacks, and the champions from South Africa are the Swingboks. Some of the best names, however, are from teams that did not make the World Cup. The Virgin Islands are the Green Machine, Mali are Les Hippos, and my favorites, hailing from the Cayman Islands, are the Turtles.
Though I never learned the rules of rugby, I learned it’s a strong man’s game, and that gives me a real appreciation for the Covenant rugby team. I’ve seen them out on the intramural field practicing before, so hats off to you guys for working hard for a sport that’s like football but with no pads. Maybe the Covenant rugby team should have their own cool nickname: The Mist of Doom. It’s dangerous and creates fear in the teams or clubs we play.