Rugby: A game of learning

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Growing up most people viewed rugby as a simply game consisting of kicking, running and tackling. However, players on the BYU women’s rugby team say there is much more to rugby than what meets the eye.

“The most difficult aspect is understanding the game,” assistant coach Kara Remington said. “I have been playing for seven years and I just learned a new rule today. In order to excel you need to get a deeper knowledge, that is really hard to gain.”

Luckily for the Cougars, the BYU women’s rugby program has experience. All three coaches are former collegiate players. Head coach Tom Waqa and assistant coach Eric Taito played extensively in college and club leagues in their home country of Fiji. Remington is one of BYU’s own finishing her last year of eligibility this past season.

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Players on the Women's Rugby team practice on Monday at Helaman Field.

The club has existed for 11 years and takes new inexperienced players who know nothing about it to instilling an excitement in them in order to learn the game.

“I began playing a month ago,” said Rebekah Boaz, a newcomer to the team. “It’s become my passion. The most difficult part of the game is learning everyone’s position and learning how I can help them best through my position.”

According to the International Rugby Board 22 laws exist with 5 to 10 points to each law. Members of the team explained how these rules remain the same between men’s and women’s rugby as well as between different levels. However, according to Remington, there are variations of the game where the laws are subject to change.

One of the more experienced players on the team, Cajin Christianson, said outside of the complicated rule system there are other difficulties in the game.

“The most difficult aspect for me,” Christianson said, “even though I feel I have an aggressive personality, is going all out on things. You can’t just get a little tackle, you have to take her down. That takes time to learn.”

BYU goes head to head again Weber State University this Saturday at 11 a.m. in Ogden, who is at a slight disadvantage. The Weber State rugby program had an established program years ago, but disbanded the program until 2009 when the Wildcats began with a completely new program to rebuild.

The last time the Cougars and the Wildcats met, the Cougars took advantage of Wildcats inexperience winning 59-0.

This weekend the Cougars look to continue their dominance over Weber State before heading to Colorado for a double header next weekend.

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