Rugby 7s!

It's taken me two days to recover from one of the craziest sporting events I've ever attended - the Rugby 7s. Despite working at a rugby bar in college, I had no idea how the sport was played. Luckily I understand American Football, so it wasn't too much of a stretch. The game is played with two teams consisting of fifteen people. Each team can carry, pass or kick the ball to the end zone. Instead of a touchdown, you score a try. You get 5 points for each try.

You get a try by grounding the ball in the opposition's ingoal area. Roughly speaking the "in goal" is the area marked out at each end behind the goal posts. You can also get points by kicking at the goals. It involves kicking the ball both between the uprights and over the cross bar in a number of clearly defined situations.

The Rugby 7s are a "faster" version of the above-mentioned. Teams are made up of seven players playing seven minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40 minute halves. 

If I had to describe the Rigby 7s in one sentence to my American friends? I think I'd say this: Mix Halloween on a Saturday night in Sturgis with St. Patricks Day in Chicago, sprinkle in a Jimmy Buffet concert and a little Oktoberfest - drop it all in a Packers/Vikings game at Lambeau and you have the Rugby 7s. 

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