Rugby anyone?

This past weekend I finally got a chance to go see a rugby game in Hamilton. It's one of those experiences that I couldn't come home to the States without and, as it was the last game of the season for Waikato Union, we knew we had to go. Andrew, Amanda and Ashleigh and I ordered the tickets the night before the game (it had only just occurred to us that it was our last chance to go) and were able to get seats 7 rows up on the mid-field. It was pretty awesome, though admittedly a bit confusing... None of us really knew the rules or the positions, but we were able to get into it and understand the major things... like when you're team's about to score a goal, that sort of thing. :O)

One of the cool things about rugby is that it's pretty much continuous playing. There aren't timeouts or downs; they just take the ball and go. If there's a tackle, everyone piles on and the ball is rather incredibly passed between bodies and through legs until someone on the outside gets it and starts running again. My favorite thing to watch was passing in the ball after it went out of bounds. Three guys from each team would cluster together and two would cheerleader-lift the third in the air in attempts to get the ball.

I'm proud to say that Waikato dominated against Northland 20 to 16. Overall, it was a pretty sweet day.

Other than that, as my dad said, school seems to be getting in the way of my adventures, but it's almost over! Only 2 more weeks of classes before study week and then three weeks of finals... *sigh. I can't wait for it all to be over. I should probably help it along by working my Geochem essay thats due tomorrow, eh? :O)