Local Rugby Clubs - Durham

The city of Durham, North Carolina, sports several rugby clubs for men and women of all age and ability. Most of the teams are very friendly to newcomers and are happy for new recruits. Several teams have also had success on the regional and national levels. This past summer, for instance, the Raleigh Vipers won the Division II National Rugby Championship and the North Carolina Kodiaks placed second in a large tournament based in Atlanta. Brief Descriptions of the teams are below:

The Research Triangle's premier rugby club is the Raleigh Vipers-- a club for the more competitive or seasoned rugby player. The club has men's, women's, and youth clubs and is currently working on raising funds to build a clubhouse.

The Duke Undergraduate team is for Duke Undergraduate players. The team has consistently made it into the regional championships for the last three years. Although the team is not large in terms of size, the tenacity of this club proves that heart and brains are just as important as physicality in rugby.

The Duke Graduate team is mainly for (you guessed it) Duke Graduate students in all areas, ranging from Medical to Business School students. The team recently traveled to France, where it competed in an international rugby tournament with French local teams.

Durham's official club team is called the Eno River Rage. Anyone from around Durham is encouraged to play. In the summers this team sees an influx of Duke players, as the university teams temporarily shut down.

The North Carolina Kodiaks are a more laid-back, all inclusive team, competing in tournaments with many different types of clubs. Players beginning their rugby experience will find the team to be very good way to learn the game.

To play for a side you can go to their respective web-site and look for practice schedules. It's very easy and probably quite inexpensive to join. The University of North Carolina and North Carolina State also have their own teams you may join, although UNC's rugby team is on a temporary suspension following a scandal involving hazing.

International Rugby

In speaking with several rugby players and people associated with the game, I have found that nearly everyone involved with rugby has a few of their favorite "rugby moments", whether a great tackle witnessed in a game, a particular story about a rugby social, or a great tournament they were involved in. These stories often surface during bragging contests, when a simple tackle becomes a "massive hit" and beating two players for a breakaway turns into "beating the whole team". I once had a coach who would always, always, speak of one impossible conversion he scored 30 meters away from the try-line at an steep angle to tie the game (on a side note, I was there, and while the kick was impressive, our team ended up losing the game because of a series of tackles he later missed). Rugby's ability to create meaningful memories is a powerful force in the gravity the sport generates.

One of my most-prized rugby memories is of traveling to Taiwan in late 2006 to compete in the Under 19 (U19) Asian Championships. I have had the privilage of spending several years in the Philippines, learning the game of rugby from some outstanding coaches. These coaches have been integral not only in my own understanding of the game, but also in spreading rugby throughout the Philippines. During my time there I was offered a position on the newly formed U19 National team, since the Philippines is still developing the sport and non-native players are eligible to play. Several other Philippine nationals from the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Philippines were also added to the team, making a strong pool of seasoded players. In 2006 this team, lead by our coach, made its way from all over the globe to Taiwan to play in the Asian Championships.

During the course of the tournament we played a total of three hard-fought, games. We faced several obsticales including injuries and breakdown of play, but despite only playing together for a few weeks our team managed to work extremely well together and win all three games, earning us the Division II Championship! The final match was particularly rewarding, as we beat the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a team that had traveled to the Philippines in 2004 and ousted us 55-7. Still a "developing" rugby country, with this win the Philippines stands a very high liklihood of being promoted to "developed" status and being entered in Division I.

I will always remember the players, games, and events that occured during this tournament, as well as the experiences I gained through it. If you want to read the rest of the story or view the results of the tournament, go to The Philippines Rugby Football Union web-site. Also, for information on the US national teams go to USA Rugby. Go make some memories of your own.

Taking a Step Back

While perusing amazon.com the other day and attempting to find some good rugby books, I stumbled across a book called the cult of the amateur; how today’s internet is killing our culture by Andrew Keen. I was intrigued by the title so I decided to read some excerpts from it. While the ideas and opinions presented do not relate specifically to rugby, the text highlights some important questions about the reach, accuracy, and goals of a blog like The Rugby Pitch.

The basic premise of the book is that internet sites with functions such as blogging, video posting, and social networking are creating an atmosphere where authentic, traditional forms of media are being abandoned in favor of “uninformed political commentary...unseemly home videos,” and “unreadable poems, reviews, essays, and novels” (Keen 3). In other words he is saying that most of the things placed on the web are useless, unjustified, and meaningless. He also claims that “Blogs have become so dizzingly infinite that they’ve undermined our sense of what is true and what is false” (3), drawing attention to the numerous blogs posted on sites such as blogspot.com. Lastly, he calls internet users “monkeys” (2), which in my opinion is simply rude.

While it may be true that blogs are often times uninformed and meaningless, Keen does not take into account that many blogs fail for just these reasons. Keen’s assertion that people (or monkeys, rather) read anything placed before them is unfounded. People in general do not read what does not interest them, bar schoolchildren and lawyers. Also, I speak from training and personal experience in this blog. If I were to, say, lie about who won the World Cup, my legitimacy as an author would be crushed. Usually if a site does not have merit, it will fall by the wayside while others take its place in the public realm.

Keen also fails to take blogs such as this one into account when discussing the goals of creating an internet-persona. He says, in relation to social networking sites, that “they claim to be all about ‘social networking’ with others, but in reality they exist so that we can advertise ourselves” (7). The Rugby Pitch does not sell things, and does not make any money, and is not interested in advertising. A part of a network of other blogs, it is on the contrary devoted to the progression of rugby union. It says so in the About box to the right. It’s right there.

Lastly, Keen forgets that free self-help or contemplative literature has little or no place in traditional media. In the United States media for instance, rugby is not a popular sport. In fact, the Rugby World Cup received almost no attention by media sources, who sparingly offered it on pay-per-view. Places like blogspot.com are one of the few places where internet users can come and find legitimate, free information on foreign sports like rugby.

While Keen’s book is an interesting read, I would suggest taking it in with a bit of criticism. I think that on many levels he just needs to read some more blogs of varying types, although his attitude could definitely be fixed with some good rugby.

SOUTH AFRICA ARE THE NEW WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS!

It was a brilliant match.
Breakdown of rankings is as follows:

First Place: South Africa
Second Place: England
Third Place: Argentina
Fourth Place: France

And the polls called it first.

That is all.

A Controversy of Style

Within the last decade there has been an ongoing argument between teams that play "good" rugby and "bad" rugby. This controversy is directly related to teams' usage of their forwards and backs.

"Good" rugby is the classical rugby style that involves more finesse among the backs and a great fitness level for players. The emphasis is on ball control and strategy. Forwards are used to retain the ball while backs complete offensive moves.

"Bad" rugby is a recent development within the sport calling for larger players that do not have as much fitness and do not play smartly, simply running into the opposing team and being as brutal as they can. Forwards are used as the main offense, crashing the ball constantly. This type of rugby, ironically, leads to fewer points as players cannot run and pass well enough to score tries and are forced to kick drop-goals for points.

This is not to say that rugby players may not be large and strong, but rather that they should have a firm commitment to fundamentals such as passing and running.

Going into the finals the South Africa has used the qualities of "good" rugby while England have been guilty of subscribing to "bad" rugby techniques. Springbok Coach Eddie Jones says, "'At the end of the day I love rugby, and I don't particularly like the way it's been played over the last three or four years". Sports writer Wynne Gray of the New Zealand Herald says that Jones' is critical of "Bash, grunt and kick rugby" because it has not enhanced the sports' image.

Others, including the French national team, recently knocked out of the tournament say that they want South Africa to win "because their style of play is more spectacular than England. " As another sports writer for the Herald writes of the French players,

"They believe a South African win is vital for the health of the sport in general, and the World Cup in particular, with the English side having come under fire for their reliance on force rather than flair."

Rugby is a sport of dominance, but it is also a sport of friendship. Teams will generally play hard against each other and then hold social events after the games. If teams continue to use "bad" rugby techniques, however, this amity may disappear. Lets play good rugby and keep it a sport "played by gentlemen".