CSUMB Rugby

Posted on Oct 06, 2011 Recommend Twitter

CSUMB Otters Get Physical with Scottish Rugby Team

By JOHN SAMMON
Monterey Herald Correspondent
05/08/2011

Taking on a group of bruising Scottish rugby players in a match on Saturday afternoon at Preston Park in Marina could be seen as a daunting challenge to players from CSU Monterey Bay.

The CSUMB Otters had less experience and something to prove.

If they're good enough, they might step up from Division III, a confederation of college and local military players, to the more challenging Nor-Cal Division II league next spring.

"To join Nor-Cal we have to prove we can travel to games all season and that we can handle the competition, so this is a test for us," said Ryan Scott, CSUMB rugby president, a junior majoring in kinesiology.

Rugby once held a special place on the Peninsula. Pebble Beach was the site of a major national tournament held each year until the 1990s.

On Saturday, CSUMB players along with members of local clubs from Aptos and the Mayhem, a club with players from area military bases, took on the Cowal Rugby Club, whose amateur members hail from the area of Dunoon, a village west of Glasgow with a population of 8,251. The Scots are on tour playing Northern California teams.

Francois Nel, 27, a Carmel resident and Mayhem player, is originally from South Africa.

"This is a barbarian sport played by gentlemen," he said. "You need endurance and strength."

Rugby is played without helmets or shoulder pads. Blocking is not allowed nor is a forward pass.

Packs of opposing players link arms over their shoulders, dip their heads and crouch against each other, called a "scrum." A player called a "scrum half," positioned on the side, rolls the ball between them as both sides push against each other. The scrum half's teammates try to kick the ball behind them. When the ball emerges from behind his massed teammates, the scrum half runs and picks it up. He then has the option to run, kick or hand off the ball to someone behind him until a tackle is made.

The ball is fought over and play continues, fast, furious and bruising, until the referee calls a penalty and the sides form up for another scrum. Rugby lacks the time-outs and play set-ups seen in American football. When a man goes down with the ball, other players pile on.

A team scores by touching the ball down across the goal line, called a "try," good for five points. Then the ball is kicked between the goals posts for a conversion, worth two points.

Donald Maciver, 30, a police officer in Scotland, said he has been playing the sport for 22 years. "Rugby in Scotland is second in popularity only to soccer," he said. Brian Johnstone, who runs a web development business in Scotland, said rugby is a game for players of all shapes and sizes. "Every position is special," he said.

Johnstone explained that back positions tend to be guys short and fast, while other players down in the thick of the milling have cauliflower ears from pressing with the side of their heads. The slower guys tend to be more powerful in pushing.

Strategy is much more important than most people think. The game is rough, but still retains a dignity. "You're bound by a code of conduct," Johnstone said. "You never talk back to the referee." Ian Ross, president of the Cowal Rugby Football Club, said his players play for the love of the game. "There is tremendous fellowship, so the players knock the bells out of each other, but at the end shake hands and go have a pint of beer," he said.

Cowal won the match by a final score of 17 to 7. Nevertheless, Scott said he was pleased with the Otters' performance. "The captain of the Cowals came up and told me he was surprised at how tough we were," he noted. After the game, both sides ventured to the English Ales Brewery in Marina for a celebration.

See the Monterey Herald for a slide show of Saturday's rugby match at CSUMB.