Rugby, Masculinity, + Tom & Andy

Andy Grainer’s enthusiastic words, “Come on sack it up, young guys!” split through the windy pitch on the campus of the University of Waikato as myself and peers huffed and puffed toward the ending of a touch rugby match a few days ago. Quite ironic of Andy’s on-field encouragement was the fact that hours before we were sitting in a classroom receiving a lecture which incorporated how masculine identity is so strongly associated with the sport of rugby. The sport requires serious cardiovascular endurance, which apparently us “young guys” were not displaying on the field that day. Just to add emphasis to the level of endurance needed to compete, I was absolutely gassed while engaged in a form of rugby that involved no collisions or tests of resistance strength. Going in, I thought I was in shape. However, the reality of circumstances allowed me to see that I am not in rugby shape.

All of the sudden, this masculine identity said to be needed in order to succeed in the sport was put into a far more tangible perspective. This is not to say I am agreeing with that stereotype, but rather hold a better understanding of its origin. To be honest I think our teacher Tom was enjoying watching us struggle to figure out the game and persist through a lack of physical endurance. The touch rugby form of the sport Tom introduced to us was rather intuitive, where each team with the ball was allowed to be “tackled” 6 times in pursuit of scoring. Reaching the “try” zone meant the driving team crossed the front line of the zone and touched the ball to the ground. In rugby union a try is equivalent to five points, and in rugby league translates to four points. To simplify score keeping we counted each score as one point and played two halves up to five points. Other rules included touching the ball to your foot to start play, passing to teammates was legal so long as they were behind you, and a successful tackle resulted in the downed player moving the ball on the ground backwards to a teammate while the defense made a ten-yard run from the spot of the tackle towards their try zone.

Overall, it was a great experience that made me wish I had tried playing the sport earlier. At this point, I do not have much interest in playing full contact nor do I have the desire to train my body to be capable of doing so. Tom and our touch game of rugby instilled an advanced level of respect to those athletes who have dedicated their lives to the sport. I was also made aware of some of the rookie hazing that occurs in New Zealand rugby clubs and damn, Tom. No thanks, do not need to literally be breathing others vomit fumes. But the sport is fun.

Blog Entry 4: Sport of Rugby Post