Tag Archives: rugby

Malaysian High School Taunt

Nationality: Malaysian

Occupation: Full time student

Residence: Baltimore, MD

Text:

“People with bad knees masturbate too often”

Context:

The informant played rugby throughout high school and college. He first heard the phrase in high school in Malaysia, where it was used by both coaches and players to shame newer members of the team who complained about being in pain. The informant said the phrase at a rugby match to a teammate who was out injured with a torn ACL.

Analysis:

The phrase shows the way that pain is viewed within the culture of a rugby team. To admit being in pain is seen as weak and is strongly discouraged and shamed. This is partially out of necessity; rugby is a violent sport, and being able to endure pain is important to be able to successfully play the sport. However, it is a part of the culture of rugby to appear tough, and this includes playing through injuries. Missing games due to injury (no matter how severe the injury) is shameful in rugby culture, and injured players are taunted and mocked until they return to the field. Additionally, injuries are such a frequent part of rugby that everyone at some point has to deal with them, and when you are injured it’s your turn to be teased.

The Champions Chalice

Nationality: Malaysian

Occupation: Full time student

Residence: Baltimore, MD

Item: A silver vase called The Champion’s Chalice

Context: The informant played on a rugby team and told me about a tradition involving a silver vase nicknamed “The Champion’s Chalice” that a previous member of the team had stolen. After a win, the rugby team would gather and everyone would drink beer out of the vase to celebrate the victory. After every match the team would gather and drink, but the Chalice was only used following a victory.

Analysis: Both the vase itself and the use of it give insight into the brotherhood that forms within a rugby team. The origin of the vase was it being stolen; when it was first stolen, nobody on the team snitched about who stole it, showing a commitment to supporting teammates off the field. The ritual of drinking out of the vase following a win acts as a form of initiation into the team, and as an extension the brotherhood. For a new member of the team, they must prove their strength by contributing to a winning team, and once they have proven themselves they can share a drink alongside their teammates. For existing members of the team, the Chalice acted as a physical prop to commemorate a victory, and distinguish wins from losses.

College Rugby Post-Game Tradition for Rookies

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/19/19
Primary Language: English

Folk Tradition:

“So I was on the rugby team and so there’s a lot of stupid little rugby traditions that exist, but there’s like 3 fuckin’ million of them. If you’re new, a rookie, and you score your first try (it’s like a touchdown) in a game or a match, after the game there’s always parties, after the game it’s always customary to invite the other team to get shitfaced with you so at the party, so after the game you have to ‘shoot the boot’. You have to fill the cleat you wore with beer and chug it, and while you do it they sing a song and they go like – yell – ‘shoot the boot’ and if you don’t do it fast enough they sing, ‘why are we waiting we should be masturbating’ you have to chug like you would chug anything.” 

Context:

This is a college rugby team’s post-game tradition. My informant watched people do it and has done it herself. 

Informant Background:

My informant is 21, from Omaha Nebraska. She is on a college rugby team at a university in Los Angeles.

My Analysis:

I think a lot of young community groups do hazing rituals as initiation ceremonies. They can be mild or dangerous in extreme cases. This is a gross, but mild initiation ceremony to the college rugby community. It makes sense that only those who score in the game get to participate because those are the people who will most likely become the leaders of the community in the future. Drinking is also a common factor in college age initiation rituals.

I think the college rugby community is relatively small compared to other college communities like Greek Life, so it makes sense that opposing teams would convene after to celebrate together. This speaks to the fact that they are more concerned about building community than competition.

Rugby Traditions and Songs

Nationality: Persian American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3/25/19
Primary Language: English
Language: Farsi

Description

“One thing that we do in Rugby is called ‘shoot the boot.’ So if a rookie scores their first try, which is just like a goal or the equivalent of an American football touchdown, after the game, they have to fill their cleat or their ‘boot’ with beer and drink it all in one go. The other teammates sing a song that goes like, ‘Why are we waiting, we could be masturbating, drink mother fucker, drink!’ So, yeah, also, in rugby, the team sings a lot of provocative songs after every game. A lot of them are about having sex, drinking, respecting Jesus, that sort of thing. The one song that is like the worst goes like, ‘Shit damn fuck a damn, fuck a damn damn. Some mother fucker just fucked my man,’ something like that. I don’t know the exact lyrics to all of them.”

Context

Having played rugby, I know a lot of other rugby players that are more well versed in the folklore of rugby groups than I am. I sat down with one of them and asked specifically about things I’d been a part of, and the informant very eagerly shared this with me.

Analysis

This is one of the only pieces I collected that I myself have experienced. I have shot the boot, and it is about as terrible as it sounds, but also works as a rite of passage. You aren’t a “real” member of the team until you have participated in this custom, which is very interesting. It also becomes a sort of initiation, as well, and raises the question — can someone still be a rookie if they haven’t scored, but have played for many years? There are some positions in the game that hardly ever score. This piece of folklore had me wondering where it came from, also, and if the sport’s roots in New Zealand and Europe started this, or if it came about when the sport started being played in the United States.

 

“Keeping Them Honest”

Nationality: Primarily of Irish and Scottish descent, American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Dallas, TX
Performance Date: March 13, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: n/a

“So,“Keeping them honest” it was the phrase that basically meant cover your man in rugby. I heard it from the coach and my teammates, so it was basically used to refer to just blocking him, and provide cover for the other guys, and just to also make sure he doesn’t outrun you.”

Informant: The Informant is twenty years old, and attends the University of Texas at Austin. When he attended a Jesuit high school for boys only, he was a member of the rugby team. The school is a Jesuit Dallas, a Catholic college preparatory high-school.

Analysis:

This particular phrase caught my interest because it did not quite make sense to me. This can be attributed to its categorization of occupational folklore, because it is a phrase that would not easily be understood by anyone outside of the organization within the context of a rugby game. When I think of “keeping someone honest,” I think of trying to convince someone not to do something inherently wrong, so as not to compromise their character. I would never have imagined it to be used in the game of rugby, which is a very rough sport that does not appear to be sophisticated from an outsider’s perspective. A phrase that uses the term “honest” would most likely be associated with something that is of a sophisticated quality.

However, from the inside, rugby requires distinct amounts finesse, and it has many different strategic and complicated facets to it as well. Therefore, it requires strength of mind, body, and character to undertake the challenge of participating in this sport, as it is very strenuous. It also requires seamless teamwork, which would require each man to successfully perform his position so that the other team members can be successful as well. Because of this element of character that is involved in the game of rugby, the term “keeping them honest” makes sense within the context of the game. Although it is a very rough sport, they are determined to remain “honest.” It could also mean that in “keeping them honest,” the player is trying to block the player on the other team from doing something bad, or something he may regret, as one would convince a friend to remain honest.

This term is used not just on this high school team, but in referring to the defense enacted by many professional rugby teams as well. In an article published in 2014 in the newsletter “Planet Rugby,” the term is employed to describe how one rugby team won a game because they were able to hold their defense and not let the other team score. It is mentioned on another news website in New Zealand in describing how one team is able to hold the offense in order to win the games. This affirms the use of the term “keeping them honest” as a widely accepted term in rugby, although it is very hard to find in America, as the sport of rugby itself is not as widely acclaimed as football or baseball.

 

“Super Rugby Bonus Points System Set for Overhaul.” Newshub. NewshubNZ, 21 Jan. 2016.       Web. 20 Apr. 2016. <http://www.newshub.co.nz/sport/super-rugby-bonus-points-      system-set-for-overhaul–report-2016012112#axzz46PGBU1AU>.

 

“Highlanders Hold On to Defeat Rebels.” Planet Rugby. Planet Rugby, 4 Apr. 2014. Web. 20 Apr.            2016. <http://www.planetrugby.com/news/highlanders-hold-on-to-defeat-rebels/>.