Rugby

     This past weekend I got to experience my first rugby game. It was the North Queensland Cowboys versus the Newcastle Knights. I went into the stadium not knowing a single rugby rule and this unfortunate predicament was amplified by the fact that I thought I was going to an Australian football game, of which I thought I knew a few rules. So, up until about half-time I sat there trying to remember the rules to Australian football while also trying to figure out why they set up the goals in an entirely different way. Finally, at half-time I was told it was rugby and not football. This was actually kind of funny because I had spent quite a bit of time during the game trying to explain what rules I could recall about Aussie football to some friends of mine. Boy did I look smart!

     Nonetheless, it was an interesting event. The whole point of the game seemed to be to get the ball and then run straight into the opposing team's players to see if you could muscle your way through five guys at once. They didn't ever appear to ever succeed, but they sure were persistent! Along with this, the match was expectedly filled plenty of blood, limping, and serious neck injury. Though none of this incurred a penalty or managed to stop the game for more that a minute or two. I think someone being killed is the only grounds for a foul in Australian rugby.

     I brought my camera along with me, but I was only able to take this one good picture before my camera died and I realized that I had forgotten to bring extra batteries.