In most countries, rugby began sometime around the Middle Ages and since then has only gained in popularity and recognition. From Canada to South America, Europe to Australia — once a rugby player, always a rugby player.

Editor’s note: Reporter Mark Boyle takes us behind the scenes of news stories in the area. This week, he quite literally tackles the sport of rugby. KU’s rugby club is enjoying one of its best seasons to date, and Mark joined the team to learn more about the popular sport.

It’s one of the world’s best-known sports.

In most countries, rugby began sometime around the Middle Ages and since then has only gained in popularity and recognition. From Canada to South America, Europe to Australia — once a rugby player, always a rugby player.

“It’s like a brotherhood,” said Adrian Horne, head coach of the rugby club at Kansas University. “You can go to any country in the world and find a team and they will take you in like a brother.”

They took me in right away. Once explaining the rules, which took a little while to grasp, we were off.

There are 15 players on a team and instead of offensive and defensive schemes, like American football, there are forwards and backs.

“The forwards are basically the larger guys who get the ball to everybody, the backs are the fast guys like the wide receivers,” Horne said.

It didn’t take long for Horne to size me up, name me a wing, and put me farthest away from the center of the field. Something that can immediately be noticed with the sport of rugby is that the ball rarely stops moving. That, and there is plenty of contact among players wearing no pads.

“It really does break down into primitive behavior at some points,” said John Pheatt, who plays wing for the KU rugby club.

The team is experiencing one of its best seasons in the last five or six years. But it will soon be looking for some new players.

“We are playing pretty well this year,” Pheatt said. “We have a lot of guys that this is their last year so we’re trying to pick up some new people and try to get some new blood out there.”

The game wasn’t very fluid with me out running around clogging everything up. Once I got off the field and the real athletes began playing, the game was really something to marvel at.

KU rugby club plays throughout the spring semester at the Westwick Rugby Complex south of Lawrence on County Road 458.