The Beautiful Game

The whistle blows on another brilliant night of rugby union, and 30 men of varying height, weight, race, and nationality walk off the pitch. After a fast, ferocious, and intense rugby match, the players show the upmost respect for the opposition with handshakes, trading of shirts, or even clapping the visiting team off the pitch.

But, what is the beautiful game? Certainly not a sport in which diving, cheating, bribing, and dirty tactics are widely accepted as part of the game. Certainly not a sport in which sportsmanship seems to only influence a few players and is only carried out by managers as a source of good media. Certainly not a sport in which a team is made up of 11 individuals. Certainly not football.

The beautiful game is rugby football, whether it be rugby union or rugby league. Where it is purely a gentlemans sport both on and off the pitch. Sure there will be a few odd punchups when the physicality reaches a climax, but even when situtations like this do happen they are quickly dispersed and quickly disciplined, and after the game the guys involved will most likely share a beer.. or two.. or three.

Rugby Football a sport where 13 (league) and 15 (union) men have one heartbeat, one dream, one goal. A fantastic spectacle where each player plays for the person standing next to him and vise versa. Putting their body on the line so that the person next to them could score a try, or so that their team can reach that one goal, and that one dream. Rugby emphasizes what teamwork is all about, it is making that one sacrifice to spring another player, or putting ones safety on the line as to see his club win that crucial match.

Is the beautiful game a game in which a player puts himself above his teammates and his club or is it a game in which one player is a piece to a puzzle and without the rest of his teammates nothing will get accomplished. Which is the beautiful game?

I know which one I'd pick any day. Rugby Football.