Women's Rugby, a question (&reply)
Anthony Andrews
>I hope this doesn't cause too much anger, resentment etc, but here
>goes.
>I come from England where, it seems, Women's Rugby is good for a few
>laughs but not taken seriously (there was a Rugby Special a few years
>back with a clip of some game in which there was a kick in front of the
>posts, dead center, well the kicker kicks a squib kick and it hits the
>women charging it down and bounces over the post, very amusing...).
>I am now at College and Women's Rugby is taken very seriously here (our
>team is one of the best in the country) . So I decided to go and check
>out a game. It was truly awful, very slow, no tackles to speak of,
>pitiful kicking, every pass seemed to be forward, etc. I was wondering
>why? I have been to see women's soccer, lacrosse, hockey, and though it
>is a little slower but the skill level is usually very high and makes
>for good watching. But watching Women's Rugby was truly painful, I had
>to leave after awhile because it was so different from the men's game.
>Why is this? Any ideas or am I watching the wrong level of Women's
>Rugby.
>Well, just a thought, cheerio.
>D
I'm also from England and I think that you are being a bit harsh on the womens
team. Compared to top-level mens rugby yes the skill level is much lower. I
find that the womens team here at Ohio U. work pretty hard and have a much
better team ethic and view of the game than the mens team. I have yet to be
impressed by ANY college mens team here in the US (and I have seen the final 4
and watched Penn State play a couple of weeks ago). The standard is very good
considering that most people have never even SEEN rugby before playing in
college though.
I think that rugby takes quite a while to develop the all around skills and
awareness that we take for granted coming from a rugby playing nation.
I like to watch the women play, they generally run with the ball much more than the
mens teams and I think that women should play EVERY sport that men do. Stop being
a bloody cheerleader (dodgy voyeurism for overwieght pervs in the crowd/audience IMHO)
-sorry cheerleaders but I really think what a waste of time every time I see you.
Remember that women frequently can play soccer/lacrosse/hockey (field not ice?)
in high school, what are their chances of playing rugby - about 0% I suspect.
So keep at it ladies, some of us out here are glad that you are playing and appreciate
the effort you put in.
The best pre-match entertainment for a rugby game is...a rugby game and we usually
try and play womens game, A side then B side. Everybody has a good time, gets to watch
rugby and the womens game gets some more exposure.
Cheers
Anthony
Ian C. Ruxton
Andrews) wrote:
(deletion)
> So keep at it ladies, some of us out here are glad that you are playing
and appreciate
> the effort you put in.
>
> The best pre-match entertainment for a rugby game is...a rugby game and
we usually
> try and play womens game, A side then B side. Everybody has a good
time, gets to watch
> rugby and the womens game gets some more exposure.
I am very much in agreement with you, even though your final choice
of the word "exposure" was a little odd. :-)
"Play up and play the game, girls !"
The Laird of Kitakyushu
ps: There seems to be hardly any women's rugby in Japan.
I've not seen it yet anyway, though I believe it does exist.
(I saw it on TV once).
****************************************************
Ian RUXTON, Direct Tel/Fax: 093-884-3446
Kyushu Institute of Technology, International:+81-93-884-3466
Sensui-cho 1-1, Tobata-ku, e-mail: rux...@dhs.kyutech.ac.jp
Kitakyushu-shi, JAPAN 804. "Hypocrite lecteur..."
****************************************************
L McGing
post but this is the first time that I have ever tried.
I feel VERY strongly about women's rugby so I thought that I would give
you another view point.
I play for Edinburgh University, Scotland, and here the game is taken
VERY seriously. There are 3 major clubs in this city alone most of them
hosting a 2 team aswell. It is true that the women's game is not up the
the standard of the mens' yet, but then men have being playing since they
were 6! It is now starting to be played in Scotish schools and with time
this will lead to a greater influx of more experienced levels, earlier.
I find it insulting when people talk about womens rugby in such negative
terms, expecially when they have seen very few games. Some games can be
very entertaining to watch and often older men have come up to us and
said how much they enjoyed watching it.
Scotland has four national divisions (including the merit table) which
compete just about every weekend throughout the winter months (when the
weatehr permits!). The level of the game is improving all the time and
when women's rugby has been going as long as men's then it will be just
as good!
Every year there are a few americans who come here (often from
Dartmouth, NH) and they join in our rugby and, in general, enjoy it. We
toured North American and Canada last year winning some games and losing
others. It was great fun and isn't that the real aim of the game?
I find it disppointing the amount of support that women's rugby has been
getting and I feel that if people has a more positive attitude towards
it they might enjoy it more and help it to develope faster.
Am I putting my foot in it if I were to say that the US is not known for
it's men's rugby and I think that it is great to see the women over
there making a great effort to get it generally accepted?
I hope this makes sense and it seen as constructive critism!
laura
--
Cathy Savino
Men's rugby. In the states we have one, it's called RUGBY.
(What's the name of this newsgroup?)
-- cathys
--
---
Cathy Savino "Yes, I am. So what??" -Cathy Savino
"Closets are for hangers, women use the door." -Bruce Springsteen
Internet: cat...@netcom.com (personal)
cathys%itd.s...@svha0001.clipper.ssb.com (business)
. -- . Cathy's .sig is brought to you today by
( ) the letters L, N, and by the number 2.
( (/oo\) )
( \''/ ) WW
( \/ ) wwwwww /__\
( ) w"ww ww"w | oo | _WWWWW_
( ) W o""o W (o)(o) (|_()_|) / o o \ (+)(+)
oo ( )W ______ W w" "w \__/ (| __O__ |)/ \
w"()"w ( ) "w \_\/_/ w" W -====- W /|\/|\ \ \___/ / \ -==- /
W -==- W ' -- ' ww""wwwwww""ww "w w" |||||||| /-------\ \ /
"wwww" = = |||||||||||| w""""""""""w |||||||||=========| <\/\/\/>
w" "w = = ||||||||||||W W|||||||||=========| / \
Elmo Big Bird Oscar Cookie Monster Bert Ernie Kermit