University of Virginia Library

THE SPORTS SCENE

By Bob Cullen

ABOUT 150 REPRESENTATIVES of the ancient and
honorable breed of ruggers are presently traveling to
Charlottesville from points all over North America for
the Virginia Rugby Club's Commonwealth Cup. In this,
its seventh year, the Cup has become one of the most
prestigious tournaments in Rugby, especially the Eastern
United States variety. From a modest start with only
four teams, the tournament has grown until it now draws
teams from New York, Wisconsin, and Canada.

Since August the members of the University Club
have been working without renumeration to make this
tournament the success that it is. Their efforts reflect
creditably on the entire University. This is the only big-name
athletic event that takes place in Charlottesville,
the only one that has drawn a reporter from Sports
Illustrated.

WE FEEL THAT a golden opportunity exists with the
Commonwealth Cup for the University to become really
first class in at least one aspect of the sporting world,
but the ruggers need help in taking advantage of it.
Rugby in the United States has always been amateur to a
fault. No club anywhere charges admission to its matches.
Their finances are limited to whatever the members can
scrape together. For this reason, there is no real national
tournament in Rugby. California teams, generally considered
to be the best in the country, rarely compete with
Eastern sides, and then only with the ones who happen
to have the money to get to the Coast. Money and talent
do not always coincide, so there is no way, other than
subjective evaluation, to tell who is Number One.

RUGBY IS ONE of the fastest growing sports in
the world, and it won't be long until someone comes up
with a viable idea for such a national tournament. Our
question is, why not Virginia? The Virginia Club has been,
since its inception, one of the outstanding members of
the Eastern Rugby Union. The Commonwealth Cup has
laid the groundwork for such a tournament. It has
associated the name of the University with Rugby, and it
has given the club members the necessary experience in
running a tournament. But the club members have done
all they can with it. By themselves, their resources will
not permit them to expand the Cup to a truly national
event. They need help.

ASSISTANCE MUST COME from two sources. The
first necessity is a sponsor for the tournament, in much the
same way that the Carling Brewery sponsors their World
Open Golf Championship each summer. In this case of
course, the sponsoring firm would be putting up expense
rather than prize money. If this were done, clubs from all
over the country would be eager to accept a Commonwealth
Cup invitation, and the Virginia Club could choose
the strongest field possible. The reward for the company
would be in the publicity accorded to such a national
event, and the image that the association with Rugby-type
he-men would lend them.

Such a sponsor would almost of necessity come from
the ranks of the brewing and tobacco companies. They
are the one who have been doing this type of promotion,
and the ones who stand to gain the most from spending
the money. A rugger might just as well be the "ale
man" or the healthy young man that smokes Winstonboro
cigarettes.

THE UNIVERSITY MUST also extend more assistance
if the Cup is to grow. A high calibre tournament cannot
continue to be played on Nameless Field and the dust
bowl of Carr's Hill Field. Such sites in themselves preclude
the possibility of any national TV coverage. (If
Wide World of Sports will broadcast parachute jumping,
they'd probably be glad to do a conventional sport like
Rugby.) A change of venue to Mad Bowl, Lambeth Field,
or even Scott Stadium is in order, but only if the IM
or Athletic Departments give their approval. We urge
them to begin to extend such co-operation. They have
nothing to lose. We also think that the ruggers, too, should
divest themselves of their fear of Athletic Department
control and work towards a better relationship with the
men in University Hall.

WITH A CONCERTED EFFORT on the part of the
parties involved, we feel that the Cup will take its position
as the foremost Rugby event in this country without
losing any of the wonderful informality and camaraderie
that has made the game such a joy for players and
spectators alike.