University of Virginia Library

Ruggers Set For Spring Drills

By Steve Bolton

Incredibly, the Virginia
Rugby Club will enter into its
second decade of existence this
spring. Founded by four law
students in 1961, the club has
consistently attained national
ranking over the years and is
now one of the top college
sides in the country.

Unlike football, the rules of
rugby allow no substitutions, so a
separate playing schedule of single
and tournament matches is planned
for each of the club's five teams.
There are thus no scrubs or practice
dummies in the sport and anyone
who comes to practice will,
undoubtedly to his horror, find
himself in a full-fledged game with
opposition which ranges in caliber
from the precision of the New York
Old Blues to the picaresque
elegance of James River Rugby
Football Club.

Along with the pleasant
camaraderie of the matches, it is
also the obligation of every home
team to throw the visitors a party.
Like the games, the parties vary in
quality and intensity, with those of
Lynchburg Rugby Club and
American University vying with
Virginia's own Commonwealth Cup
Weekend for preeminence.

Aside from games and parties,
the club sponsors tours to various
and sundry places. Last spring, the
"A" and "B" teams journeyed to
England and Scotland. This season
the entire club will play a series of
matches in Florida over the break
and hopefully will end up in
Nassau. Next fall the season will
begin with a ten day swing through
East Africa with time out from
games with local clubs to
photograph wild beasts and drink a
liquor which is distilled locally
from papyrus roots.

So those of the university
community, undergraduates and
graduates, professors and
administrators, who find themselves
possessed of desires which they are
unable to fathom or articulate
would be wise to attend the
organizational meeting, which will
be held tonight at the Sigma No
house on Carr's Hill Road around
8:30 P.M., or the practices
themselves which will begin on
Monday, February 15 at 8:30 P.M.
in the cage behind University Hall
and continues on weekdays until
the weather improves.