(Untitled)

[bullfightposter]

Time: August 15, 2000
Status: Open to spectators or joiners in
Setting: The manor lawn
Summary: Brian teaches the way of the rugger

Comments

Hope I got this right... I know nothing about rugby except what I just read on the internet. ;)

[classic_palm]

Shadow couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Adam’s face when he went down under Brian’s tackle.

“Try to stay loose when you fall, Adam,” he advised, never having been tackled in rugby before but having experienced enough of the same thing playing American football in high school.

“The basics are pretty simple,” he told the young man, hoping to offer a slightly more straight-forward and coherent explanation than Brian’s sporadic, if passionate, one. “The team with the ball tries to take the ball down to the other team’s goal by carrying it, passing it, or kicking it, and then either touch it to the ground for five points or drop kick it though the goalposts for three.”

He picked up the ball from where he had tossed it on the ground when they had lifted Adam and continued.

“Meanwhile the other team tries to stop you from reaching the goal and gain possession themselves by tackling the player with the ball. If the person with the ball is tackled both teams try to force each other away from the loose ball until one team recovers it and play continues.”

Most of it was pretty straight-forward, until one started getting into terms and names. Shadow hadn’t listened to enough commentary yet to have those straight; he knew some of the more common terms but was totally lost when it came to the less common ones or the positions of the players.

“Maybe we should start with something more simple, like passing?” he suggested, sending the ball back to Brian.

[bullfightposter]

"Not quite," Brian admitted cheerfully, "But close. You don't drop-kick the ball at the end. You take it all the way back, touch it down, and THEN you have the chance to kick it for extra points. You can kick it anywhere on a straight line back from where you touched it down-- so if you touch it down right in the middle, you have a pretty clear shot."

He caught the ball. "Passing, all right. You can only pass to the side, and behind. Not too far behind, or else you just lose ground."

He showed them both how to hold the ball, in two hands, to put a spin on it. Then he stood besides Adam, and a little in front, and tossed it to him.

[average_adam]

Adam caught the ball stiffly, elbows sore from when he went down on them, and trying to copy Brian's moves, turned around and passed it to Shadow with a grateful over-the-shoulder glance.

"That makes a bit more sense. It's easier to start with the general 'fore you move on to the specific rules and stuff. Gotta have a goal in mind, right?"

[bullfightposter]

Brian looked prim and sensible.

Given that it was Brian, well, it just looked out of place.

"There is a goal. That's the goal," he said, pointing innocently.

[average_adam]

For a boy of infinite imagination, making this one random area of grass a goal over any other area of grass in the world seemed to be oddly difficult. This piece of grass should be differentiated in some way so that he knew it was a goal. Reality heard his wish and obliged, putting proper rugby goals in where they should be. That helped Adam lock in the idea. Sometimes when you can see everything at once, focusing on just one thing that isn't really there is hard.

"Well, I meant the point of the game, but all right. That's the goal. We've done tacklin', passin', liftin', and where to stand. What's next? Runnin? I'm good at that."

[bullfightposter]

Brian stood back, impressed by the sudden appearance of two tri-lines and a pair of uprights.

"But the goal is the goal," he said, continuing with his matter-of-fact innocence. "Get the ball there. All the rules just tell you HOW to get it there."

"An you already know how to run. What we gotta do is put it all together in your mind."

[classic_palm]

Shadow rearranged the information about drop-kicks in his head and passed the ball back to Brian.

"What we need," he suggested glibly, "is a practical demonstration."

[average_adam]

"That's right," said Adam eagerly. "Maybe I should just watch for a couple of minutes..."

[bullfightposter]

"Oh, I suppose," said Brian (who had his own reasons to keep Adam concentrating hard). "Me and Shadow could show you how to pass. But it takes three to really see why you pass."

[average_adam]

"Why you pass? It's just to keep from gettin' tackled, right?"

[bullfightposter]

"Yeah, but to really get a feel for when you can pass so the defense is already really focused on you... takes three. Still. Since throwing it back seemed to confuse you a bit... you up to showing him some passing, Shadow?"

[average_adam]

"You wanna make them think you have the ball so you still get tackled, but then you can pass it away and your teammate can try to get the goal...?"

This had two major disadvantages in Adam's mind. First, he got tackled. And second, someone else got to make the goal. Adam was a good leader. He wasn't so much of a team player.

[bullfightposter]

"Well, yeah. But then you have to get up and out of the tackle so you can run up behind THEM. They might need help in another few seconds."

Brian noticed the aversion. ...Adam, in anything like a real game, would probably be a scrum-half, he decided. Rarely got tackled, and directed where the ball went. He wondered how much more time he could take up by explaining that.

[average_adam]

Adam started laughing heartily. Really, what an absurd game. If you were going to be random, why not just make something up?

"And you keep fallin' down and gettin' up for an hour and a half? Tell me again why you like this, Bri?" But his eyes were twinkling. He suspected he knew part of the reason...

[bullfightposter]

"Cos it's FUN. Besides, I'm not one of the ones who usually gets tackled. I am a forward, and I tackle," Brian said proudly. "Only there's not enough people to teach you that, so I'm teaching you how to pass."

Despite what he'd told Wens, he had pure motivations for playing rugby. Really, when you were in the midst of the scrum, you weren't worrying about touching other men, you were worrying about Pushing Those Bastards Off The Ball, Men! If he'd only been about it for the men in the short shorts, he'd just watch.

"It's wonderful, Adam. Really great stuff. Works off so much energy, and when you've been butting shoulders with a bunch of other big bastards for eighty minutes you really feel at peace with the world. Keeps me in shape, too, eh?"

[average_adam]

"You just don't want me to know how to tackle," mock-pouted Adam. "'Fraid I'd be better at it than you?" He grinned. Despite his complaints, he really was having a good time. Even if he'd never understand why your team was supposed to be better than the other team.

"Can't say it's bad exercise, though. An' I bet you sleep real good at night bein' all tired."