The World Cup You Should be Watching

For most Americans, rugby is football’s silent, shy cousin that we may never know much about. However, under bright stadium lights across France, rugby has been thriving. The sport’s quadrennial World Cup is underway, with the group stages drawing to a close and the playoff bracket set. To many, this sport is beyond us—something far too foreign to comprehend and enjoy. But as the finals approach, some might find captivation in this foreign game, where storylines are fairy tales and tenacity is abundant.

About a month ago, I knew nothing more about rugby than the extreme physical contact. Blood, head injuries, you name it; everything seemed fair game on this field. But as I watched my first rugby match, I was blown away by how organized the game was. The level of respect that existed between the referee and players was something that all sports could learn from. Games were officiated with transparency and coordination: decisions made by Television Match Officials (TMOs) were broadcasted, and players consistently recognized the no-contact-after-whistle rule. Rugby’s blend of tradition and excellence, of physical prowess and intellect, holds great promise––so have a look and see what rugby could have in store for you.

The objective of the game is simple: enter opponent territory and convert a try, penalty, or drop kick. Tries are scored when a player drives the egg-shaped ball into their opponent’s goal zone and are worth five points––think touchdowns, an analogy reinforced by the ensuing two-point conversion attempt. For penalties and drop kicks, the player attempts to send the ball through the goalposts for three points; drop kicks are taken during active play, whereas penalties occur after the opposition commits a penalty and thus an attacking player can kick unintruded.

Players advance the ball by kicking and passing laterally to their teammates, but all other movement across the 100-meter pitch is done on foot. A tackled player releases the ball, and a supporting teammate continues the play; the opposition can attempt to steal the ball during the release but is often prevented by a wall of attacking players––a rugby staple known as a ruck.

Play is restarted after a stoppage by one of two methods. When a ball goes out of bounds, play is typically restarted with a lineout, where one team throws the ball into play from the touchline and players from both teams climb onto each other’s backs to recover the falling ball. The second and most common is the scrum, where players lock arms and push against each other to gain possession of the ball. Perhaps the dumbest-looking play in sports, it requires sheer willpower and strength to recover and retain the ball while pushing toward the goal zone.

In many Pacific island countries, rugby is all people have to look forward to. Traditionally, rugby was dominated by the likes of England, Ireland, France, Australia, and many other nations with large, developed populations that trace their inheritance of the game back to colonialism. But among them, competing on the global stage, are Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga—nations whose combined population is smaller than that of the Bronx, and whose people earn under $3,000 annually to provide for themselves. Yet Fiji has not only qualified for the knockout round, but has also had a consistent presence in the tournament.

The three nations were introduced to the sport via colonialism and are all presently members of the British Commonwealth, but they’ve made the sport their own. From childhood, the rugby dream is apparent in Fiji, where some players trace their roots to barefoot play on grass fields with plastic bottles serving as makeshift balls. Tribal elements of Pacific society combine with the sport—games are preceded by war dances and hymns, and players train endlessly to compete in the Rugby World Cup.

Fiji, the largest of the three Pacific Islands represented, advanced to the knockout round in a nail-biting match against Portugal. In the last match of the group stages, Fiji simply needed not to lose by more than nine points against Portugal to leapfrog Australia into the knockout round. Portugal’s team had lost every match to that point, extending their win drought thus far into their second World Cup in history. In a tight game where scores happened mere minutes from each other, the score eventually reached 23 to 17, favoring Fiji with just four minutes to play. Then miraculously, with less than two minutes to go, Portugal exploited Fiji’s porous defense, scoring a try and the following conversion kick to win the game, 24 to 23. This result would still see Fiji in the quarterfinals, but every Fijian collapsed onto the field out of both respect and defeat. For the Portuguese and their fans, they were no closer to qualifying for the next round, but they had one win under their belt. “We showed Portugal that rugby exists,” hooker Mike Tadjer said.

Though nations like Portugal show that rugby’s historical hierarchy can be upended, it is impossible to ignore the powerful tradition that other nations use to empower themselves. One of those nations, New Zealand, has been playing since what seems like the dawn of time. They’ve won the tournament thrice, and they have begun each of those matches the same way: the Haka. Like their fellow Pacific islands, New Zealand has integrated parts of their tribal culture into the sport as well. The All Blacks, as the team is colloquially known, draw the Haka from New Zealand’s Māori people, and use it to display both the strength of their team and to extend a challenge to their opposition. The Haka is a collection of war dances, of which the All Blacks utilize Ka Mata, composed by Rangatira (Chief) Te Rauparaha. While the other Pacific nations also utilize war dances as intimidation and bonding tactics, Ka Mata’s words have become famous all over the world.

Much of rugby’s tradition is cultural, but some nations’ traditions are those no one wears proudly—curses. October 14 saw a particularly sizzling one rekindled, as the All Blacks and the Irish National Team faced off. Seven times they have played in the quarterfinals. Seven times the Irish have fallen. It is the most harkening statistic in the sport and New Zealand knew it. This year, in the Stade de France, the All Blacks witnessed one of the strongest-ever responses to a Haka, with the Irish fans drowning it out with chants. As the fourth-ranked team in the tournament, New Zealand still had something to prove. Defeating Ireland could do the trick, but momentum favored the first-seeded Irish. During the match, both teams clawed at each other. The All Blacks started the match on the front foot, scoring two penalties and a try after a lucky chip kick was gathered by fullback Beauden Barrett which he punched into the goal zone. But Ireland responded with a point rush of their own to close out the half, with a try from center Bundee Aki and an exchange of tries right before the half to bring the score to 17-18, favoring New Zealand.

The showdown continued, with the second half delivering no drought of entertainment. The All Blacks began the half with another try, and when New Zealand-born Irish captain and fly-half Johnny Sexton drove a penalty wide of the goalposts, the Irish fans grew silent. But it took less than 10 minutes for them to catch a huge break—a penalty try scored right in front of the goal zone and a yellow card for All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor. In rugby, a yellow card requires a player to take a 10-minute penalty, meaning the All Blacks had to defend a one-point lead, down by a man for 10 minutes. Ireland could taste victory just moments away. Despite the Irish advantage, they gave their opponents two opportunities to kick penalties, one of which was converted, and it brought the New Zealand lead up to four. With their man advantage and time both slipping away, the Irish fans amplified their chants, desperately willing their team to victory. And they did, driving down the line and bringing the ball just one meter from a try, which would have given them the lead. But at the last possible moment, a penalty was conceded and the entire Irish push collapsed, with New Zealand regaining possession and clearing the zone. The yellow card expired, but with two minutes and change left in regulation, the Irish pushed forward. With more than twenty phases in one push, the Irish drove into the New Zealand quarter with just a chance. One minute over-regulation, then two, and 20 became 32, but the 30-second would be the last. Ireland would never make it to the goal line, conceding a penalty to New Zealand, and with that, the All Blacks advanced. Before it was seven out of seven quarter-final losses. Now eight of eight as the first seed clocked out of the tournament early yet again. As Sexton crumbled to his knees, doubtless part of him wondered if he would rather be on the side of the All Blacks, for whom he could have played by birthright. The stories behind the game heightened the stakes, and every second helped build one of the most captivating sports storylines in history.

This year’s World Cup symbolizes the beauty of rugby, which has grown from a mere sport to an instrument uniting nations from every corner of the world in a celebration of culture. That instrument has captivated the hearts and minds of millions across the globe, mine among them. I hope yours will be, too.