The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

Rugby: Not Just Another Euro-Fad

Thousands of miles away from here, fans wearing their home team’s colors of black and silver stand in their seats as a scoring opportunity arises. They hold their breath in unison as they watch the play develop. A player clad in black breaks through a defensive backs attempt at a tackle and after a tremendous effort, stretches the ball across the goal-line, firmly pinning it to the ground. Tens of thousands of fans erupt into a deafening roar to celebrate their teams score.


No, this is not an Oakland Raiders game. The scene is even farther away than California. It is in Auckland, New Zealand at an International Rugby match pitting New Zealand and Australia against each other, two bitter rivals in a sport that equals or surpasses any other in terms of physicality and athleticism. Rugby is huge in that part of the world; along with New Zealand and Australia, South Africa is an international powerhouse. It is also a major sport in the United Kingdom and countries in Europe, such as France and Italy.

But in the United States, rugby attracts little attention. National team games are plagued by low attendance figures and media coverage is basically non-existent. The U.S., however, has a storied history in the sport, having won the last two Olympic gold medals (in 1920 and 1924) before the sport stopped being played at the Olympics. And recently, rugby has experienced a resurgence at the grassroots level, a fact that is evidenced by students at WJ playing for the Maryland Exiles club team.

“I started playing rugby because my friend [junior Patrick Teixeira] on the wrestling team told me I would like it and that I should join the girls team,” said senior Christina Tobar, a two-time state girls wrestling champion. “Also, I love football and I heard that rugby is similar except without pads. I thought that was sick.”

Along with football, rugby has drawn comparisons to soccer, often being described as a mix between the two. There are no stoppages in play besides when the ball goes out of bounds, after a score or when there is a rule violation. To score, a player must ground the ball over the goal-line (called a try and is worth five points) or drop-kick the ball through the opponents’ uprights (worth three points). After scoring a try, the team has an opportunity to make a conversion (worth two points) by drop-kicking the ball through the uprights from a point in line with where the ball was grounded.

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Basically, players advance the ball by running and by passing the ball backwards or sideways, akin to a lateral in football, or by kicking the ball forward. The opposing team can stop the advance by tackling the ball carrier, who must put the ball down if tackled, or by fighting for possession of the ball.

“I think about it as football except at a constant pace,” said Teixeira. “You get more satisfaction out of it, the whole game, rather than just play-to-play.”

The physicality is an essential part of the game. And according to senior Natasha Turak, another member of the Maryland Exiles women’s team, it is one the most appealing aspects of the sport.

“It’s contact, you can get hurt, you bleed, but it’s really exciting,” she said. “I just love it.”

Senior Omar Zerbo joined the under-20 national team this year, but continues to play for the Maryland Exiles as well. He started playing at a young age and has experienced the growth of the sport firsthand.

“It definitely has room to grow,” he said. “Every year there’s different clubs and different teams coming about and learning about rugby. It’s basically big in Europe but it’s coming here pretty fast.”

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