Ablies Rugby

Hello Mates!

This weekend, I had the chance to experience what is pretty much the most marveled Aussie sport- rugby!  While it took me a little to follow the rules of the game, I had a blast getting to sip on some cider with my new friends and cheer on the Albies rugby team.

A boys team from Sydney travelled all the way to Armidale to play against our boys- roughly a 6 hour trip for them.  The day consisted of 3 grades playing- which made for quite a long afternoon.  Luckily, we dodged the rain, for the most part.



A few facts about Aussie rugby:

• Rugby has been a popular sport in Australia since the 1850's
• The first rugby game in New South Wales (the state I'm in) was in 1860
• The Australia National Rugby Union's mascot is the "Wallabies" 
• Australia has appeared at every world cup since 1987
• Australia is one of the most successful teams in the Rugby World Cup tournament’s history

Some facts about St. Albies rugby:

• We've won the grand final in all 3 grades 4 times
• Since the club started, we've won 10 premierships from 19 Grand Finals for our 1st grade team
• In the past 8 years, we've won 5 Premierships from 8 Grand finals for our 1st Grade team
• We've won the Club Championships for all 8 years

Some things I learned about rugby:

• It's sort of like football, except you can only throw the ball backwards
• They don't wear much equipment
• No one says "touchdown," but the crowd does get pretty involved during the game

While I might not be too keen to participate in rugby myself (contact sports definitely aren't my strongest suit), I'm really looking forward to cheering on my team the rest of the season 🎉

Cheers,

-Hallie