SPORTS BLOOD BROTHERS

RUGBY IS NO longer the hooligan sport that Teddy Roosevelt threatened to ban during his presidency.

It has gone from a game of brawny, unshaven men tossing an ill-formed football backward to one that’s regarded with growing respect. “Rugby is a fraternity whose only initiation is how well you get up after you take a lick,” says Henry Summerall, an original member of the 15-year-old Dallas Rugby Football Club (DRFC). No longer are “ruggers” regarded as marauders on an oversized football field. But now, as in the past, the real fun begins when the game’s over. The beer flows and the tales grow taller as the battlefield moves to the neighborhood pub.

Today, rugby is played by doctors, lawyers and accountants-the whole gamut of professionals. Ruggers consider themselves part of an exclusive worldwide brotherhood; members pride themselves on the game they play and the company they keep. Members consider rugby to be the most noble of sports-a gentleman’s game.

“It’s an international fraternity. I can go to any major city in the world, and if there’s a rugby club there, they will welcome me with open arms. If I need a place to stay, they will provide me with that, too,” explains Carlos Johnson, a recruiter for the DRFC.

Rugby is a unique sport in that few Americans know anything about it, yet those who play the game praise it as one of the finer things the world has to offer. “Rugby is much more than a hobby; it’s a way of life,” says Texas Rugby Union President Chris Chefchis. “It gives you the opportunity to compete at a very high level. And more importantly, you meet a lot of people you wouldn’t normally cross paths with. Rugby brings you together for a common goal.”

At the turn of the century, the common goal was for rugby team members to literally maim their opponents. In 1905, photographs of a violent match between Pennsylvania and Swarthmore-and the deaths of several players during the preceding years-led President Roosevelt to issue an ultimatum: Either clean up the game or it would be abolished.

An integral part of the Roosevelt reform was instituting the forward pass, which led to the establishment of gridiron football- the game of Super Bowls and the NFL. Rugby, meanwhile, became an underground game, played primarily on the East and West coasts. The game particularly flourished in California; the 1920 and 1924 gold medal-winning Olympic teams (the last two times rugby was played in the Games) consisted primarily of players from the Golden State. But it’s only been recently that the game has emerged from the dark shadows of its past to become an integral factor on the American sporting scene.

Despite its early reputation, rugby football is a game with a rich tradition that stems to 1823, when William Webb Ellis, a student at the Rugby School in England, picked up the ball and ran with it during a soccer game. From this modest beginning, the running game has grown into an international sport, at times filled with political tensions and interference: The 1976 Olympic boycott by black African nations, for example, was caused by a controversial New Zealand rugby tour of South Africa. And a 1981 tour of the United States by the South African Springbok Club caused demonstrations and violence.



THE GAME IS played on a field, called a pitch, which is longer and wider than a normal football field. A player (15 to a team) runs with the ball (which looks like a cross between a football and a basketball) until he is stopped by the other team. He then must make a split-second decision: Be tackled and lose the ball or pass it to a teammate. If he chooses the latter, the ball may only be tossed to the side or backward. A forward pass is a no-no and results in a penalty. The continuous action stops only for penalties, scores or those unusual things called scrums, rugby’s version of “kill the man with the ball.” Three members of each team line up with shoulders locked; 10 other players surround this group. The ball is then rolled into the middle of the pack, and the fun begins. Amid the banging of heads and cracking of bodies, the aim is to pick up the ball and run for a score. Scoring is accomplished by either touching the ball down in the end zone (no spiking, please) or kicking it through the goal posts a la Rafael Septien.

The game appeals to many former football players because of its aggressive nature, yet unlike football, bulk is not required. “Size isn’t that critical a factor. An aggressive attitude can make up for size,” DRFC member John Japsen says. “You don’t need brawn, you need brains,” explains 5-foot-8, 160-pound Mark Gale, a member of the DRFC, who was selected to represent the Western Region of the United States Rugby Football Union (USA RFU) on its junior squad last season. “Speed, handling and tactical thinking are necessary.”

Only a select few get the chance to handle the ball in football, but all ruggers, Carlos Johnson says, “are expected to run with the ball when the situation presents itself.” Each team member will handle the ball during a game, sometimes all on one possession. And each player has his own means of contribution: A bigger man provides the muscle to break through would-be tacklers, while a smaller man can break into the clear and elude defenders on his way to the goal.

What separates rugby from other sports, and part of its overall attraction, is not what occurs on the field, but what happens when the referee blows the whistle. “In what other sport do you beat the hell out of someone for 80 minutes and then go to a party with them? There are no hard feelings as soon as they have a couple of beers in them,” says Dallas rugger Bruce Dooley.

“The camaraderie that develops is an important part of the game. You’re friends with your opponent when the game is over. It’s the tradition of the sport,” Dallas Harlequins vice president Ken Campbell says. Whether it’s a keg on the field or a sojourn at the host’s favorite watering hole, the home team always sponsors the celebration following a match. The post-game parties have made the sport famous. Any club’s archives are filled with rich tales about the consumption of vast quantities of alcohol accompanied by the singing of ribald songs and general rowdi-ness. Club administrators and members have attempted to tone down the wild behavior that was rampant in the early days of Dallas rugby. At that time, remembers Johnson, “we didn’t have enough players, so we dragged some people in. Some were pretty low-class players. The partying became more important than the game.”

Strong efforts are being made to change that image of rugby in America. “The USA Union has really been coming down on the roguish behavior,” Johnson says. “Clubs are changing the image. Partying, unfortunately, is what goes in the press. It’s hard for people [outside the sport] to understand. You’re there for the sport. It’s a sporting fraternity, but it’s also a social atmosphere.”

It’s that atmosphere of camaraderie that makes the sport so important to its enthusiasts. “I’ve met some people I’ll probably know for the next 30 to 40 years,” says John Ferris, former president of Dallas rugby club Our Gang. “It separates the men from the B.S.ers.”

For Jim Angstman, rugby has not only helped keep him in shape, it has kept him here. “It’s the only thing that’s made my life happy in Dallas.” The DRFC has provided him with friends and a support group in an other wise new and strange city. “Rugby gives you a social life. The people are friendly-they take you under their wing,” Angstman says.

But the fun and camaraderie aren’t limited just to men. Dallas also boasts a 15-member women’s team: the Kamikazis. The rules are the same for both men and women, although women lack the speed and strength of men, according to Kamikazi president Sandra Gramley. “Pound for pound, it’s the same game. And we all go out after the game for a beer.”

Gramley says that most of the people she knows enjoy the women’s game. “Probably the people that disapprove of women’s rugby are those who don’t have a concept of the game,” she says. The team, which consists of architects, teachers and electricians, receives support from the men’s clubs. “They refer recruits, invite us to their parties and let us borrow equipment,” Gramley says.



BUT THE FRIENDSHIP doesn’t come without a price. Since rugby is an amateur sport, the players must pay for their own equipment and expenses. Although the annual dues are only $20 per half season for the DRFC, Chefchis estimates that a normal season costs a player $1,000. For the Dallas Harlequins, who traveled across the country en route to the National Club Championship in Hartford, Connecticut, last May, the costs were even higher. “I shudder to think how much I spent,” Campbell admits. But as Angstman puts it, “I spend the money anyway. I get a chance to travel. I’m using rugby to see the countryside. I’ve been to places I’ve never been before.” The DRFC has been to Aspen, San Antonio, Tulsa and Monterrey, to list only a few of their stops.

To help finance their tours, rugby clubs have developed ingenious money-raising methods. Club members hold raffles, work security at concerts-and, when the need arises, they pass the hat. When Gale was invited to play in a Chicago tournament recently, Chefchis says he was able to raise $100 for the air fare in less than two hours.

But often the costs are so high that club members must turn to outsiders for financial help. Several beer companies help sponsor local tournaments, but donators can be slow in jumping on the bandwagon: Because the clubs don’t have tax-exempt status, the donators can’t receive tax write-offs. As the newly elected president of the Texas Rugby Union (which governs 34 teams), Chefchis is attempting to incorporate the union to provide them with the needed tax-exempt status.

This fall, Chefchis and the DRFC are turning their well-honed fund-raising skills to aid another sport. The first Dallas Rugby Charity Ball, scheduled for January 18, will benefit the Special Olympics. Chefchis hopes that in addition to raising money for a worthy cause, the event will help improve the stature of rugby in the Metroplex.

But for most of the players, turning in their dirty uniforms for black ties won’t be easy. To help club members make the transition from chugging beer on the field to sipping champagne at the Loews Anatole, Chefchis has enlisted the help of former Dallas debutante and ardent rugby fan Gwen Kakaska. Although this type of gathering is a first for Dallas, Kakaska says, “People in other cities do a lot for their teams, and nothing had been done in Dallas. They deserve this.”

Chefchis as well as other organizers and administrators are also looking at the development of youth rugby as a way of improving the sport’s image and participation across the country. American ruggers usually don’t find out about the sport until they are in college, sometimes later. Although rugby is second only to soccer as a national sport in England and other countries, the majority of sports fans-even knowledgeable ones-are hard pressed to describe the game, let alone name someone who plays it. Rugby is beginning to establish a small foothold on the sports scene, and although the recent television coverage on ESPN (the 24-hour cable sports network) of the Harlequins’ national championship victory will help, further growth will be dependent on attracting a younger crowd.

To meet that goal, the USA RFU, established in 1975, passed a resolution that all first-division clubs will be required to sponsor a high school-age team by 1986. The sport-which has grown in the past 25 years from 3,000 players in 150 clubs to an estimated 45,000 players in 1,000 clubs-faces strong opposition from football coaches and parents, however. Some parents object to the roughness of the game; bruises and marks can result from playing on a hard field with no pads. And football coaches-solid fixtures in Texas high schools-don’t want to see their talent pool depleted by rugby. Ironically, one factor that may eventually help rugby is the continual cutbacks of financial support for high school athletics. Football is a very expensive sport to payroll, and rugby provides a cheap alternative as a contact sport. All that’s required to participate are a pair of shorts, a collared shirt and socks, as opposed to the expensive helmets and various types of padding required to protect football players.

And, says Johnson, “Rugby’s a great game for kids. You are expected to be a gracious winner and a gracious loser. It’s a team game. Rugby teaches kids how to work together. When the game’s over, it’s over. Talk about a character builder; this is the story of life. You learn that when you get kicked down, you have to get right back up.”

The establishment of a youth program requires coaches and veterans of the game to deliver the message of rugby to a new generation. To understand and learn the technical aspects and intricacies of the game, Americans have had to turn to other countries to provide them with the know-how. The foreign influence on American rugby is important and controversial.

The Harlequins were led to the national championship by the footwork of South African Naas Botha, one of the premier players in the world, and seven other foreign players. Botha scored 19 of the Harlequins 31 points in the championship game against the Los Angeles Rugby Club. Botha, a former member of the internationally renowned Springbok club, came to America to try out as a place-kicker for the Dallas Cowboys.

After he was cut from the Cowboy roster, club members invited him to play for the Harlequins. Teammate Campbell believes that the presence of Botha and other highly skilled foreigners is an asset to the team. “American rugby is in the developmental stage. Individuals like Naas Botha who have great skill only help to develop our skills. It’s inspiring to American players who don’t have that level of experience to play with someone like that. More important than his playing, he was a coach to us.”

But Ferris, who left the Harlequins in 1976 to form Our Gang, believes that the Dallas-based champions are having a negative impact on rugby in the area: “They’re so good, it hurts the other teams in Texas. It’s a disaster.” He adds that he believes the Harlequins aren’t looking after the best interests of American rugby, but are only seeking personal satisfaction. “They have guys who play while they are passing through the country, and they take the place of someone who’s been practicing with the team the whole time. It’s hurting.”

The Texas Rugby Union also believes that there is a problem with foreign dominance. Chefchis and the TRU passed a player eligibility rule that would limit the number of foreign players on a tourist visa that a club team can have on its roster to three. “We have no problem with legitimate players- foreigners who are here on working or student visas-but we have a problem with those who are just passing through, who just play half a season.” Chefchis emphasized that the ruling is “aimed at getting a better game for the United States. Southern California has had the rule for three years, and the USA RFU has adopted it for the national championship teams.”

But despite its problems off the field and in administration, the sport is continuing to grow. The season runs from September to December, then breaks for the holidays before resuming play in January, when it continues until May.

“You get hooked on the game,” says Johnson. “You forget your banker, your problems-everything. You’ll play your guts out for 14 other guys. It’s total exhilaration.”