Ah, rugby. The second most watched sport in the world (Soccer is number 1). While most of us Americans have no idea what's going on during a match, we're behind the curve when it comes to every other nation on earth. Sure we have football, and we own it. But, and this is coming from a die-hard Chicago Bears fan, football is growing soft. Gone are the days of stiff arms, clothes lines, head shots, and bounty systems. Now are the days of high scoring offenses in which the defense has virtually no dictation of the game.

 

Bring in rugby, a game still entrenched in it's violent roots. Two 40 minute halves, with no timeouts, plenty of  brutal hits, and enough blood to make a leach quiver.

 

When I attended my first Casper Cannibals rugby match last year, I was lost. But, I was hooked. 6 match's later, I have a good grasp of what's going on, and a butt-load of respect for these pad-less Casperites. Saturday, they played a double header against Ft. Casper and Billings. While they excelled against the former (W 32-15), the latter put us to shame (L 75-7).

 

During the matches, there was a lot of trash talk and big hits. I'm thinking "this after party is gonna be a bloodbath!".  But, all three teams drank and partied like they were the best of friends. And they talked a lot of trash.

 

You see, the rugby match is just a battle. Winner goes 1-0. For the day. The real competition happens at Butch's when all the players vie for limerick supremacy and liver obliteration. Casper, as expected, destroyed the competition.

 

Brutal action, hard drinking, and excellent sportsmanship. While I'm not ready to say goodbye football just yet, rugby has made it's presence very well known...and I'm digging it

 

 

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