Rugby club raising funds for Oahu tournament

WAILUA — Greg Horn said Saturday the Kauai Rugby Club needs to find money in a relatively short amount of time.

“We’ve been invited to participate in a rugby tournament on Oahu,” Horn said. “The tournament plays Dec. 16. That’s just a short time away, and we need to raise money to get the team over for the tournament.”

Horn was joined by other KRC members, their families and volunteers in dispensing helpings of kalua pork while taking advantage of the waning light to get in some practice at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Sports Park adjacent to Lydgate Beach Park in Wailua.

Rugby is sort of backyard football, played non-stop with a lot of running, passing and tackling. The ball resembles the traditional football, but is bigger — about the size of an underweight turkey — and is passed and kicked around the field with the goal of getting the ball to the opposing side.

Unlike football, the game continues non-stop despite tackles or possession changes. The only pauses come if the ball goes out of bounds. And, there are no pads.

“It pre-dates football,” Horn said. “We even have some football players from the high school who have graduated, playing.”

Typically, the game fields 15 players on a side and plays for 80 minutes.

“The tournament format is cut to 7’s rugby,” Horn said of the seven-a-side contest. “This provides a lot more action. Instead of playing 80 minutes, the games are cut to 15 minutes, which means we get to play a lot more teams in a given day.”

Horn said the group has been meeting and playing for about nine months, and get together for games, usually at the Weinberg sports complex.

To help with fundraising for the Oahu tournament, Kauai Rugby Club is hosting a car wash at Kukui Grove Center on Nov. 11 from 9 a.m. Members, and Horn, will be available there to answer questions about rugby or the Kauai Rugby Club.