Every region has its own sports obsessions, and Ireland is no different. Wisconsin has football. Ireland has soccer (and yes, they actually call it soccer), hurling, and rugby.
I decided to go to one of these rugby matches and see what the fuss was about. Luckily, there were some friendly Irish students in back of me to explain what was going on. Unluckily, by the end of the match they were incoherent due to the presense of a bottle of Huzzar vodka. This will be from the perspective of a novice of the game.
Rugby is very similar to football, with some very noticable exceptions. First: The clock never stops running. There are no such things as time outs. Second: While you can run forwards, you can only toss the ball backwards. Third: Feel free to kick the ball to your opponents in hopes of getting in farther down the field. Fourth: When the ball is thrown in from the sidelines, throw your teammate up like a cheerleader so they can catch it.
Rugby is rough! Normally players run at their opponents knowing they are going to get tackled. After you are tackled, you can pass the ball off to your teammates. No penalty exists for going for someone's face, and jerseys get close to ripped off. When players are injured, the game keeps going. They are just taken to the side of the field with the least amount of players.
To me, it looked like a huge bar brawl. While no liquor is on the field (that I know of), the fans make up for it. The concession stands sell Guinness, Heineken, hot whiskey, Baileys, and tea and chips for those of us who don't want any liquor.
In summary: backward throwing, cheerleading toss, bloody faces, running clock, happy fans.
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