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12 WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM Men's rugby loses to Duke in last home game Dan Miller/Guilfordian Guilford players reach for a throw-in during their 20-18 loss to Duke in the final home game of the year. Gub falls just short ^ainst best team in the lepe By Jake Blumgart Senior Writer Traditionally, the men's rugby team would have been clobbered in the Saturday, Sept. 29, game, against Duke Universit/s A-side (their best and most experienced players)— who are generally acknowledged to be the best team in the league. But the game, which was the men's last home game of the semes ter, was very close, with Guilford leading for 60 minutes of the 80- minute game. The final score: 20- 18, Duke. When Guilford played Duke's A-Side last semester, the score was 35-7 Duke. "It's the best game we've played all year and it was against the best team in the state," said first-year David McKinley-Ward. "It was a completely winnable game. We just got the short end of the stick this time." The men's rugby team has improved mightily this year and the other league teams have taken notice. Wake Forest's director of rugby, Patrick Kane, complimented Guilford on their 20-18 victory over his players a few weeks back. "(The Guilford team that has come a very long way from the team that last year was losing to Wake's second side," Kane wrote in his blog. "(It was a) great perfor mance from a much improved and well-driUed Guilford team." "In the past, rugby has been seen as something to do on the weekend when you weren't wast ed," said senior rugby veteran Nick Hunter. "But now we are taking ourselves seriously. We're a small team but we are extremely physical. Its ftmny seeing these big dudes, with confident looks on their faces, running down the field and getting steamrolled by a 150 pound fly- half." The turnout for practices has been more consistent this year than ever before. Twenty-five guys regu larly show up when in previous years it was often as low as nine or ten. "I know it's a cliche, but we've been in every match this year," said senior Tyler Cope, one of the team's most experienced players. "It's been frustrating when we lose, but we've been legitimately competing against teams that used to wreck us." Although the Saturday match against Duke was the last home game of the semester, the men's team will still be playing games in the area. The next game Close to campus will be at UNCG after fall break. Home games will resume in the spring. "We've surprised a lot of people this year," Hunter said. "In terms of morale we beat Duke's A side. It was just due to a random penalty that we lost. And I got to head-butt somebody!" ♦ Students discover Irish hurling hurley is legal, provided it's done two- but he remains otherwise improtected handed. Childr^ wear only a plastic against sliotars routinely going over 93 helmet and mouth guard; no one wears iniles per hour. By Reid Cranfill Staff Writer Studying abroad in Ireland for the summer, Guilford senior, Brett McDonough discovered the ancient Irish sport of hurling. "My roommate said, 'you've got to have the same type of pads and helmets check this out!' and he turned on hurl- Lacrosse players have." ing on the television," McDonough said. Hurling is usually played on a pitch only take three steps with the sliotar in Contribute to The Guilfordian! pads. "That must be fun to get hit with," Guilford Athletic Trainer Shannon Swiatkiewicz said. "I'd want them to "Hurling is more proof that non- American sports can te more bad-ass than American sports," senior Tristan Winkler said. Offensive players are allowed to grab the ball witii one hand, but can "TTiese little kids were playing hurling - it was one of the most violent, confusing things I've ever seen." Hurling is older than the recorded history of Ireland and is the country's second most popular sport, behind Gaelic football. Fifteen people per team brandish hurleys, widch are three-foot long dull wooden axes that can hit a leather ball with a cork core, called a sliotar, over 100 yards. "Some of the adults wore helmets kind of like the old leather football hel mets, only thinner," McDonough said. "But they weren't required to." Players over 21 iisually forego aU safety equipment, despite the fact that certain t)q?es of tackling are permitted and hitting one's opponent with the "HDrlin!i is more prooj tlmt non-Americdii sports am lie more M-iiss thon Ameriom spoiti" Tristan Winkler senior 100 yards by 160 yards, and has eight referees. At either end of the field, H- shaped posts stand just over sbc and a half yards high, seven yards wide, and have a crossbar eight feet off the ground. The lower portion of the goal has a net guarded by a goalie. Hitting the ball between the top posts scores a point, while scoring a goal on the bottom gains three points. The goal ie's hurley has a slightly larger paddle. hand, before having to balance or dribble the ball off the hurley. The ball can be passed via a drop-kick or open-handed strike, and at all times a player is free to hit the ball as hard as he can with the hurley. The Gaelic Athletic Association has controlled the professional sport since 1884, and tens of thousands attend the matches. Seating more fans than Charlotte's 73,298-capadty Carolina Panthers' Bank of America Stadium, Croke Park hosts over 82,000 people and is the headquar ters of the Gaelic Athletic Association. "I lived right beside Croke Park in Dublin; it was pretty intense," McDonough said McDonough. "The park was huge.You could hear it echo ing through all of Dublin on game day." ♦ Writing OR Photos guilfordian@guilford.edu
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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