Ready for the Ruggers...

With the weekend looming and my plans looking set to include another Friday night at a pub watching the rugby, I began to wonder, when did I start watching football?

I wouldn't like to think of myself as one of those girls who is completely averse to attending sporting events, but growing up in a household of four women and a dad who fancied electronics over sports I feel that I have started behind the eight-ball.

London has a huge pub culture - as I have touched on before - but the last few weeks with the Rugby World Cup on the pubs have bustling almost every night, and there have been more than a few coloured jerseys being worn by men usually attired in stiff suits and dress shoes. I have not taken to the change in outfit myself, but I have watched a few of the games... However, I use that term loosely. Where a true fan would watch and comprehend, my eyes simply glaze over the bright green field and spotted players, and then I cheer according to the directions of my fellow drinkers.

I jumped online to try and find out the date of the first RWC game for 2007, you know, to give you guys a bit of background info and make this entry more about the games and less about my ignorance... but... I couldn't seem to find that piece of information on the official site (rugbyworldcup.com). I can hear the groans of my male friends now!

I did source out some information about the game of rugby - in an effort to aid my understanding of Friday night's match (between France and Ireland, or should I write that: France vs. Ireland? Ahhh, the pressure!)

For those not in-the-know:

• Rugby (short for rugby union football) is an outdoor sport, played by teams of 15 players a side, who are able to kick and at times carry an oval ball. Note: this means visually you can differentiate between 'football' as in soccor (black-and-white-checked round ball, no hands) and rugby union football (which I am told has to be referred to as just-plain 'rugby');
  
• An adult-level rugby match goes for 80-minutes, and consists of two 40-minute halves, plus time added on for injury (don't quite get why they don't stop the clock but if any of my readers are rugby fans, feel free to comment below... actually, I'd like you to!);


• Points are scored by 'trys' or 'goals' - a try is scored when the ball is grounded (thats when the big boys run and plunge themselves into the ground near the goal posts) and it gets them 5 points... A goal is scored if the ball is kicked between the goal posts and above the cross bar. But this is where it gets a bit tricky because there are 3 ways to score goals: i) a drop goal - where the ball must hit the ground immediately before it is kicked, ii) a penalty goal - awarded when the other side breaks a rule, and then the side infringed against can try for goal from the point of the infringement, iii) a conversion - this is where the side that has just scored a try gets to go for a goal too, either by a drop kick or placing the ball on the ground. Note: A penalty or drop kick is worth 3 points, and a conversion is worth only 2 points.

They're the important bits anyway. I'm sure there's more, but if I research any further I might be turned off entirely and choose instead to spend my Friday night at home, with a DVD and some popcorn...