“We’re happy rugby isn’t as popular as football,” Kirwan said. “We think rugby is a great sport but we want it to grow in the right way. We need to keep our values and the things we care about.”
Full article : http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/02/26/201002260083.asp
Learning rugby's finer points
Rugby is more than strategies and techniques.
It's also an opportunity to learn life lessons.
That's what instructor Guillermo Gulli of Montreal was trying to teach during the first-time 300 Rugby Academy at South Grenville District High School in Prescott.
A total of 27 players, all from the high school in South Grenville, took part in the five-day clinic this week. The unusual spring temperatures allowed Guili to conduct classroom instruction as well as take the 25 boys and two girls outside to practice on the football field.
"The kids learn a life lesson. The kid who has the ball has to go forward to help his team. He has the responsibility to go forward. It's a team project," said Gulli.
Gulli, the former Argentinian rugby player who is now a Canadian citizen, has been operating this clinic in Quebec for the past five years. This is the first time it has been held outside that province.
"You learn the strategies and techniques. You learn about leadership. You also learn about success and dealing with losses," said Gulli.
"There is no MVP on a rugby team. There's physical, mental courage and the braveness to make decisions," said Gulli. "You score a try only because of the guy who pushed you forward. You kept going for your teammates and because of your teammates."
Rugby is a sport that has a spot for the short and the fat, the tall and the skinny, the fast and the slow, noted Gulli.
Together, they all have a role to play on a team. There is no success without everyone working together, he p>"The 300 Academy teaches about different strategies, leadership and working together as a team to be successful in the sport," said Megan Colwell, one of only two girls at the clinic.
Colwell, who has been playing rugby at South Grenville for four years, plans on continuing with the sport at the University of Waterloo next fall. Colwell wanted to learn as much from the clinic as she could in order to be able to pass along the strategies to her teammates for the upcoming Leeds and Grenville high school season.
"Our team doesn't have a lot of experience in dealing with strategies in our game. I'm trying to learn some more techniques to enable us to beat other teams," said Colwell, who would like to see the Giants knock off the BCI Red Rams for the LGSSAA title.
South Grenville's Jacob Hayes is looking past Leeds and Grenville. He's hoping what he learns at the clinic will help the Giants in winning EOSSAA and earning a trip to the provincial championships.
"He (Gulli) brings different strategies to our game and different concepts that we haven't seen before," said Hayes, in his second year of rugby but planning on returning again in the fall at South Grenville.
"You can definitely see the improvement in our game," he Guys are seeing the game better. This will help us compete better against teams."
While the Leeds and Grenville season doesn't begin until May, the Giants will be taking the junior and senior boys teams to a tournament in Washington, D.C., in mid-April.
South Grenville coach Jake Swarbrick has other tournaments lined up before the LGSSAA season starts. "From Monday morning until now, the improvement is immeasureable, it's huge," he said of what his players have learned over the course of the week.
Swarbrick is also a big believer that rugby teaches lessons that can be used off the field.
