Rugby, and then some.

Posted by Hooff Cooksey

The group after a hike up to the lookout over Glendalough.

On a brisk Sunday evening, after a long, yet beautiful, day spent at Glendalough, I made my way to a local pub called Crowe’s with the company of Kenny and Finola, our Irish comrades, and Professor Dave Junker.  I was told that there was a rugby game to watch.  However, little did I know that the game we were about to watch was the Grand Final between two arch-rivals, Leinster and Munster.  Leinster represents the big city team, while Muenster owns the rural representation, kind of like the rat pack team and the Little League team in The Sandlot.

Kenny and Finola, both Irish students from University College Dublin, have been helping out with our transition into Dublin life.  We arrived at the local pub, filled with a relatively calm Irish crowd, grabbed a pint and found seats just as the match began.  Up to this point I had never watched a full rugby match.  Once Kenny began to explain the rules and analyze certain decisions and situations presented in the match, I was able to follow the match.  I guess it also helped that the Final came down to the last few minutes, with Munster, the underdog, taking the title. 

Rugby is different from any other American sport.  Like basketball and hockey, every player and the ball is always moving; there is a large amount of contact, along with rushing and passing, like in football; the match is played on a field about as large as a soccer field.  However, rugby players do not wear pads and can only pass backwards.  The sport involves a lot of very specific rules that shape the game into a hard-nosed, smash mouth sport, that teeters on the edge of a very dangerous 80 minutes.

Interestingly enough, I can say that I learned much more about the Irish culture in that hour-and-a-half than I did about rugby.  The Irish are very respectful towards one another.  You will never see show-boating after a player scores in a rugby match, never a moment of ill intent towards a referee and a great deal of respect towards the opposition, no matter how much hatred a team may have.  While watching the game, both Steve and Sarah showed respect towards each other, acknowledging when a player of the opposing team made a great play, and even in the end, when Sarah's team came out on top, Steve still congratulated her and the winning side.  To have all of these factors play out, on a professional stage, is quite extraordinary. 

Aside from rugby, I was able to get some great incite into the ongoing conflict in Northern Ireland.  Finola filled me on the basic details of the rift and the connection all of Ireland feels with Scotland.  Scotland is also fighting for certain liberties, a connection all of Ireland can make.  She spoke of the continuing cycle of violence in Northern Ireland that erupts when a new generation of passionate teenagers, who do not remember how bad the violence was, begin to rise up. 

The talk was fascinating, and made me realize how resilient the Irish are.  Through all the turmoil and tragedy this country has faced, the people continue the love and embrace everyday they spend on this earth.