Reaching back to a 2006 post on my other blog, I found this post touching on why I love rugby and I thought it was appropriate to repost it here and now. – B

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(A shout out to my friends who have asked this…)

The quick answer is “why not”? It’s fun!

The longer answer: It started many years (and about 60 pounds) ago when I was in college. After one summer (when I drove to Boston and back for no reason), I found myself with a lot of spare time and nothing much to do except work out.

Fast forward to the end of the summer. I returned to college and ran into a friend of mine in the gym one day. He was surprised at how much more I was in shape and he recommended I try out for the team. So, I walked out to the field the next day.

It was love at first hit.

Yes there were no pads in the game, no helmets. That was one of the greatest things about the game. The other was the team.

The team was excited to have another victim… er, player, on the field. They were happy to have me out there with them. We became very tight knit, we were happy to be on the field and just enjoyed each other’s camaraderie. We even hung out with our opponents after the game, we got along great because we all played what we considered to be the greatest game on Earth.

Unlike when I went out for football in high school, where they didn’t want to be around each other.

The sociality (is that a word?) of the team and the game kept me coming back. Plus I got to go to exciting places like Wales and Australia as a result of my time on the rugby field.

Will I ever stop?

Nope. You’ll have to peel me off the field.