Second Rugby Game

On Sunday April 10, 2011 I was exposed to my second ever professional rugby game.  Unlike the first game I went to this was not in a large enclosed stadium, rather it was almost an outdoor park with a large field in the middle and some bleachers around the outside.  This had a very different feel than the first game I went to, which was between the Sydney Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbito’s.  With that being said, it was just as entertaining and intense as the first game that I saw.  It almost gave me a better experience due to the fact that I was closer to the field than I was the first time I saw a game.  I was able to appreciate the intensity of the collisions and the speed at which this game was played at.  When sitting farther away it is almost impossible to hear the sounds made when bodies collide, but when sitting up close it makes a very distinct noise that sends chills down your spine.  These guys are making football like collisions without any pads or helmets.  Within the first thirty seconds of the game a player collided with a member of the opposite team and broke his nose causing blood to gush down his face.  After receiving medical attention for about ten minutes he was back in the game.  As a result of this I would have to say that these guys are some of the toughest athletes in the world, the guy’s nose was clearly broken but he got right back out there and started making tackles again as if nothing had happened.  I think rugby makes a lot of other professional sports athletes look soft, a guy would miss a week of games in baseball in the States for a broken nose.