RE: Digest Number 153

Mike:
> I like the idea of bringing a rugby ball to meetings. Maybe I'll try
> that. Of course--I don't know if I can even go into a sporting goods
> store here in the US and buy a rugby ball!

I held an "Intro to Scrum" meeting yesterday and
one of the chaps brought in a ball - we spent
the first part of the meeting almost getting
into a real scrum.

Incidentally, as I come to understand the whole thing,
I think Scrum should really be called "Maul" or even
"Ruck".

A scrum is the usual set piece used to restart play
when it has stopped for some reason.  It is, relatively
speaking, a very gentlemanly thing, with the (usually)
eight players from each side staying on either side
of an imaginary dividing line, and the only real
contact being between the two sets of front three.

A maul is the ad hoc stramash that occurs mid-play,
when someone is tackled and manages to stay on their
feet holding the ball, but is quickly engulfed by
other players from both sides as they fight for the
ball in order to feed it to the backs.

And a ruck is a maul with the ball on the ground.
It also often involves one or more players on the
ground and boots, knees, and teeth, going everywhere.

Nowadays, the referees - big girls blouses that 
they are - tend to stop mauls and rucks fairly 
quickly, in case someone gets a hair out of place.  
In *ma* day you only stopped a ruck if someone died, 
and even then only if they were so inconsiderate as to
die on top of the ball such that no one could rake 
them out of the way.

t