BYU in Rugby Finals

A few friends and I are going to the BYU-Cal game for the Rugby National Championship game on Saturday night at 7pm at Rio Tinto Stadium. If anyone wants to join us, let me know and I can get you tickets with us. They're running about $12-15.

Dang, I thought we'd win this year. It's amazing the stronghold that Cal has on Rugby.

So I went to the game. Kind of understood it. Found it kind of boring. I'm not sure Cal was the better team, but they deserved to win. BYU had tons of unforced errors and couldn't tackle worth a lick. Lots of bad angles on hits taken. Lots of guys trying to hit instead of wrap up. Too many knock ons (or fumbles) and dumb decisions in the open field.



BYU had their chances and had they played a cleaner game they could have won. Cal played a better game only because they played cleaner game. They didn't have nearly the same number of unforced turnovers.



Rugby will never catch on in the States. It's a poor TV sport. Too often the ball is hidden in a mass of humanity with no clear idea of what's going on.

You found it boring? Different strokes for different folks. I watched it online and I was on the edge of my seat the whole game. However I'd fall a sleep during a soccer match that soccer fans tell me was exciting.



As far as watching Rugby on TV goes, when the ball gets "hidden" they the change camera view a lot of the times so you can see what's happening, and IIRC they are going to play the sevens version of Rugby during the olympics which is a lot quicker paced. Rugby is growing in the states and I hope it eventually gets to the point where it gets more airtime on TV.

SpiffCoug wrote:
Kind of understood it. Found it kind of boring.

I went to the game as well. Luckily I had my wife with me to explain what was going on. That might seem strange, but she played rugby at Utah St. before we met, so she answered all my question.



At first, I thought it was a little boring, but the more I understood it and the strategies involved, the more interesting it became. By the end of the game I was totally into it and wishing this weren't the last game of the season.

SpiffCoug wrote:
BYU had tons of unforced errors and couldn't tackle worth a lick. Lots of bad angles on hits taken. Lots of guys trying to hit instead of wrap up.

Seriously, I think the rugby team would benefit greatly from spending a little time with Bronco, learning how to tackle and take proper pursuit angles.