This past Saturday (5/3) was the championship game for college/university rugby in the US. Last year BYU played for the national title against Dartmouth and won. This year the Cougars played against a real tough and formidable opponent - Cal’s Golden Bears (UC Berkeley) - which has more rugby championship titles than any other school. But BYU has now won the title three consecutive times/seasons. It’s a three-peat, as former LA Lakers coach, Pat Riley, puts it. Score was 43-33.
Most credit BYU’s success to its international roster especially form the South Pacific countries like New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, etc. where rugby is a favorite pastime and national sport. Though rugby has not reached the status and popularity of its American football counterpart in the Untied States, it is slowly making headway and recognition which will only get better with rugby as one of the sports now included in the Olympic games. Incidentally, the state of Utah (home to BYU) is fast becoming the rugby mecca in the US. Here, the Highland rugby team is the Cal Bears of high school rugby. The Highland rugby team has won more championships than any other high school and was the inspiration for the movie “Forever Strong”.
Congratulations to the BYU Cougars for a great game on Saturday!
Photos: Deseret News
No comments:
Post a Comment