Kids' Turn: Ruggers

The boys started rugby this last week. Their introduction involved a special invitation to watch the South Africa/Fiji game at the Al Ain Rugby Club last Sunday, and then attending their first practice on Tuesday. They've both picked it up very quickly. Here are their comments on what's cool about rugby.

Riley: Tackling's cool: sometimes you fight the tackle to gain ground, and sometimes you have to take a dive by pushing sideways backwards into the tackle so you can "present the ball" to your teammates behind. One teammate will push off the tackler while trying heroically not to step on your head, and another guy picks up the presented ball, rounds the pileup, and presses forward.

Christopher: I like the shape of the ball, and I like to tackle. Some of the hits are harder than in "American football," and you have no pads. A goal is called a "try," and it's worth 5 points. That's cool, too.

Jonah: is again in bed. He's too young for formal practice, but he wishes he could play with "the brothers," so they teach him what they learn, like Riley did with football. Actually, they played a bit during our trip to the rugby club, and Jonah got quite a bit of attention when he was spotted hunching on the line of scrimmage ready to explode into action. Kid needs an outlet.

Special request: for next week's post, we'd like to hear from you. What are some of the questions you have? Can we answer them? We'll try. But please ask good, succinct, specific questions: not "What's life like in the UAE?" but "Are bidets or toilet paper the hygienic accoutrement of choice?" We look forward to hearing from you, and will answer as many questions as we can. If we don;t answer yours, it's either because it was dumb or we just don't love you as much as we love the others.