Rugby for Valentines
One of my favorite annual events here in San Diego will be taking place this weekend, beginning on my least-favorite "holiday" of the year. I'll take hot ruggers over expensive candy and flowers any day.
Teams from 16 countries will invade the pitch at PETCO Park Saturday and Sunday (2/14 & 2/15), competing in the San Diego stop of the IRB Sevens World Series X. The International Rugby Board (IRB) tour also includes stops in Dubai, South Africa, England, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Scotland.
Teams are split up into four pools, with the top two seeds of each pool advancing to Cup and Plate competitions on Sunday. Winning the first match Sunday sends a team into the Cup field, while losers head to the Plate bracket. Teams seeded third and fourth in pool play Saturday move into Bowl and Shield competitions Sunday. Once all matches have been played, the Cup winner takes home 20 points. Based upon how they finish, some points are earned by teams in the Cup, Plate, and Bowl competitions. Points from each of the eight world stops are tallied to determine an overall winner for the 2008/09 iRB World Series.
But enough about the paperwork, let's get to the guys.
The teams have been in town this week, practicing and seeing the town. Ruggers are known for their intense, violent athleticism on the pitch. They are also known for their historic drinking abilities and wild partying. As in years past, players can be expected to be partying in the bars with fans after the competition. The fans come from all over to root on their favorite country, many wearing wild costumes and bringing noisemakers.
The action is fast-paced. Each team fields seven players, on a full-sized pitch (that's the playing field, folks), with seven-minute halves and a two-minute halftime. Basically, there's a lot of open field to run around on with only seven guys to a side (as opposed to the normal 15). So the pace of the game is fast and furious, and the hitting harder than ever.
Hot guys banging against each other in shorts and no pads... who needs a stuffy Valentine date?
Time to go see if the host hotel has a bar in it...
Chase Parker believes in the East Coast bias, stretching triples into doubles, and considers Tommy Boy to be the greatest athlete of our generation.
| Unless otherwise stated, no particular sexual orientation of anyone depicted is implied or should be presumed. |
Posted by Chase Parker on February 13, 2009 in Rugby
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Hot sweaty guys for VDay? No thanks, but you go ahead. Enjoy!
Posted by: Cyber Rainbow | February 14, 2009 at 01:35 PM
I would have loved to go to this even with all this rain over VDay.
It would have been nice for you guys to let us know ahead of time, instead of after.
I probably would have gotten better pictures for everyone.
Being home here in San Diego, I guess I know what I am doing next year.
That is for Damnn sure.
Posted by: splerrk | February 17, 2009 at 02:14 PM