READY? READY? READY? UP! (the rugby post, you all knew it was coming)

Rugby, yes.

I am part of the OUWRFC, or the Oxford University Women's Rugby Club. Pretty fantastic. Here's the website: http://www.ouwrfc.co.uk/

our logo

Anyway, we practice Monday and Thursday night with two rugby-brute-esque male coaches who enjoy playing good cop/bad cop. We play come anything; rain or shine, blood or guts, ice or fire. Then, we typically have fitness Saturday mornings, and our games are Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings (#winning).

Our practices consist of Al (the big, bad cop) pretending we're not that funny and swearing at us to pay attention and muttering that no matter what he has to say to us he promises he's not being perverse ("spread your legs, girls!" "You, play hooker." "WIDER!" "HARDER!").

Once Al has sufficiently exerted his manliness on all of us giggling girls and we've warmed up, we typically do agility and dynamic drills. Al's new favourite is the "FOW SIDED SQUAHRE!" Really, Al... does a square have four sides? One of the Freshers remarked that the name was a tautology and then we did some more press ups, if we could, because we were laughing so much.

I almost DIED the first time I was introduced to said Fow Sided Squahre. We line up in groups of four all facing the inside of this box with cones on the corners. Two parallel sides have bags to hit. The first side are holding the bags up, and on the second side, the bags are stand-alone sand bags. We will come back to these...

At the sound of the whistle, a non-bag side picks up the ball and does short "popping" passes to one another until the center of the square is reached. The ball is set down, and we line up ("Ready? Ready? Ready? UP!") and, as a line, because everything done in rugby is done in a line, smack into the girls holding bags. You push them back five meters (right, as they're pushing you back, as well), and then return to line up over the ball waiting for you in the center of the square again and--"Ready? Ready? Ready? UP!"--charge to the six foot tall bags of sand and tackle those until you push them over (yes, your legs do fly up in the air behind you when you hit something with such velocity). Then, you get up, return to the ball in the middle, making pops, and then ram into the team on the opposite side of the square that you started from, forming a "ruck." Once they win the ball, it's their turn.

Being the yellow dude at the bottom sucks. Al promises you never get stepped on. Al lies.

We do a few more agility, handling and fitness drills, and by the halfway mark of practice, my hamstrings are shit. Absolutely worthless. I try to run and they just give out. I suppose this has a lot to do with my not being active for over a year (thinking I was far too busy with school, HAH! Silly COW work), but you know what I did have on lock down? All the press ups! Doing push ups every night before bed, no matter who made fun of me, totally helped out. I'd say less than a third of the girls on the team could actually do them!

Then, after half mark, the girls who weren't playing in the weekend went and did passing and fitness on the turf, and the ones who were playing worked on the scrum machine.

Now, I'm not sure why the term "machine" is used to describe this torture device, as it is a slab on concrete, rolled into a wheel with blue pads sticking out of it, and a latch which, when released, the blue pads launch out and attack you. So, 'nuff said.

Since, apparently, I fit the need for a forward (this is ironic because, no way in hell do I meet forward standards, since forwards are the first line of defense... a.k.a. MASSIVE), naturally, I had to oppose this beastly "machine." I play position 8:

that's me ^                     

Basically, 1, 2 and 3 bind, which is a really interesting process, because 1 and 3 actually are holding on so tightly to 2's pants that she can't breath, and she's basically lifted off the ground by her trousers. She shouts: "BIND!...CROUCH!...TOUCH!...ENGAGE!" and the three of them ram into the blue pads. Then, 4 and 5 come up behind them, and, this is where the saying "Cheek to cheek" comes from, and they nuzzle into 1, 2 and 3's backside and get cozy. Then 6 and 7 get on either side and provide support for the scrum. Then, I engage, cheek to cheek, with 4 and 5, girls I've come to know quite well, Mariam and Iovannah.

The ball is in the middle of the two teams 1, 2 and 3 players, and 2's job is to kick it behind her with her foot, toward 4, 5, 6 and 7, and my job is to stop/control it until another offensive player on our team can come and grab it and take off.

Also, it was raining all practice. Pouring.

But, basically, rugby is awesome. All the girls are so sweet and even our touch team Teddy Hall captain plays, and she picks me up from Dawson and we walk to practice together :) The team is entirely supportive of my never having played before, and do their best to yell instructions to me, and do the right amount of pushing to get me to warm up to the sport. So, thanks Blues, you're quite wonderful.

After practice, I went and bought some "stash" which is basically team gear. I got a pair of windbreaker pants (I mean, trousers), rugby shorts (which are strong enough to lift you into the air, NO give/stretch in these puppies), and a shirt. In the states, you usually buy your gear in the middle or towards the end of the season, after you're more part of the team and have proved yourself capable. When I asked the girls if I was supposed to buy gear, they were like "Oh my GOD, Rachel! OF COURSE! Don't you want Blues gear?! Show everyone you're a part of the team?!"

So, now I am a part of the team. And it's an amazing feeling. I haven't been part of a team like this before ever. I played ice hockey in high school, but there was no where near as much unity as there is in a team like this.

Rugby is played in a line. No one is in front of you, no one is behind you. You move as a cohesive unit. All drills, agility exercises, fitness tasks and contact drills are done as a whole. The team is a team. It is not a group of individuals.

My first game is Sunday, and I need to buy metal cleats (I mean, boots!), a scrum hat, tall navy blue socks, and some spandex shorts. I'm going to freeeeeezzee!