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Saturday, October 4, 2008
Rugger on the Rise
Greater Louisville, KY
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Louisville Red Devils rugby team brings something fresh to spring sports.
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“Before I joined the team, I didn’t even know what rugby was, but in a few weeks I came to love it.” -John Bishop, Louisville Red Devils
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It was a chance conversation between Bob Rueff and the wife of Rob Birrell at a swim meet in 2003 that spawned the idea of a high school rugby team in town. Louisville Rugby Club member Rueff and the Birrells, who come from Zimbabwe, found they shared a love of the sport and thought a high school team would be a good idea. Not long after, the team, originally known as the Shelby Lions, became a reality.
The team started with about 12 guys from the Shelbyville/Jefferson County area and a year later they joined the Ohio Youth Rugby Association (OYRA). By 2006, the squad had greatly improved and went through the season with a 7-2 record. Last year, the decision was made to move the team, now the Louisville Red Devils, to Louisville and Tom Sawyer Park. With that move came the opportunity to choose from a greater pool of possible players.
High school rugby is currently enjoying a moment in the sun thanks to the recently released movie, Forever Strong. Based on a true story, it features a troubled rugby union player who must play against the team his father coaches at the national championships. The movie is timely. With high school rugby growing significantly, USA Rugby recently passed an initiative to increase the game at youth level by the next Rugby World Cup in 2011.
Today, there are 35 players on the Louisville squad—enough for A and B teams. They are freshmen through seniors and most attend St Xavier, Trinity or Eastern. Some join because their dad played, while others join out of curiosity. They may be wrestlers because of their adeptness in the art of tackling low; they could be football players. Some even got involved after playing rugby games on the Internet.
Whatever their background, Rueff says these players are “just tickled to death” to play the sport. And that’s how he felt when he got involved in the game about 30 years ago when he joined Louisville Rugby Club, a team put together in 1969 by Irish immigrants who used bamboo poles for makeshift goals in the early years.
Coming to the twilight of his playing days, Rueff started coaching in the early 1980s. And as well as coaching the Red Devils, Rueff is also coaching the University of Louisville’s rugby program. Known as Cardinal Collegiate Rugby, the team is now in its second year.
“I was enthralled with the whole aspect of being fit,” he says.
Michael Grantz is a Red Devil who feels similarly about rugby. The St Xavier student originally started playing rugby as a substitute after he quit lacrosse a few years back.
“Rugby was an appealing sport to me because of its physical nature,” says Grantz. “I’ve always enjoyed contact sports and it’s pretty obvious that’s what you’re getting if you play rugby.”
Although rugby does have a reputation of being a “no-rules, no-pads” version of football, Grantz says he was surprised to learn that the athletes who are most successful in the sport aren’t always the biggest ones with the most testosterone, but more often the veterans who understand the intricacies of the game and what’s happening on the field.
“You can be a scrawny 150-pound kid like myself and still make an impact on the field as long as your performance is guided by your brain rather than brute force,” he says.
“One of the unique things about playing for this particular club is that we have students from opposing rival schools—even football players—who forget about the rivalries and mesh together on the rugby pitch,” says Grantz.
One such student is John “Scotty” Bishop, who says he got involved in the sport during his freshmen year at Trinity because he was just looking for something to do. However, he says he has “fallen in love” with rugby since he began playing the sport.
“Before I joined the team, I didn’t even know what rugby was, but in a few weeks I came to love it,” says Bishop. “I’ve made friends with just about everyone on the team and it’s a truly unique thing to play.
“Last year there were a lot of guys from Trinity that played on the team, including my brother and many of his friends. They were seniors and had played football before joining the team, but after the season I guess you could say there was a void in their lives and they filled it with rugby.”
Rugby Facts
• It’s generally accepted that rugby, or “rugger” as it is affectionately known, was born in 1823 when William Webb Ellis, “with fine disregard” for the rules of football (soccer) as played in his time at Rugby school in England, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it.
• American football can be traced to early versions of rugby. Walter Camp of Yale helped evolve the game away from rugby and soccer rules into the American Football we know today.
• Rugby union (one of the two main codes of rugby football, the other being rugby league) is played with an oval ball by two teams of 15 players. A team is divided into forwards and backs. The forwards’ job is to win possession of the ball, while the backs’ task is to move the ball toward goal.
• A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes with a short interval. At under-19 level and below, games are limited to a maximum of 70 minutes, with an interval after 35 minutes.
• A try, worth five points, is scored when a player scores or touches the ball down in the in-goal area. If it is converted (the goal kicker kicks the ball in between the top of the goal posts), the team gets an extra two points. Another method of scoring points is through drop goals or a penalty, which are both worth three points.
• The most important tournament in rugby union is the Rugby World Cup, a men’s tournament that takes place every four years between the elite national rugby union teams. South Africa is the current world champion, winning the 2007 tournament held in France. Powerhouse nations also include New Zealand, Australia, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Argentina. The next World Cup will be held in New Zealand in 2011.
• Rugby was played at the Olympic Games in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924, with the USA winning the tournament in ‘20 and ‘24.
Join the Fun
The Red Devils are looking for more students to get involved in the game when the season recommences in the spring. Among the teams they will play in the Cincinnati Division are Walnut Hills, East Side, Indian Springs, North Bend, Dayton, Northern KY, and Dakota. For more information, contact Bob Rueff at bob@rueffsigns.com.
Aidan Kelly is a freelance writer living in New Albany. He is originally from Dublin, Ireland, where he edited a newspaper for 11 years. Read his blog at soccerindiana.blogspot.com.
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