Le Jeudi IN ENGLISH / Prolate Spheroid Zen

Rugby «à la luxembourgeoise» was born in 1973. It consisted, back then, of hardly more than an encounter between French and British expats, staging a remake of the Hundred Years' War in a potato field in Moutfort. Éric Netgen

Rugby has gone a long way since. O.k., it would be ludicrous to deny that a pair of steely forearms always comes in handy when your job description includes hacking down a stupendous no-neck three-hundred-pounder – avoirdupois pounds didn't get their name for nothing! – steaming down the pitch at full throttle, with his cauliflowered ears taped to the skull and a vicious gumshield grin that says you should have chosen ping-pong when your were given the choice in second grade. Rugby, allegedly a sport of beasts played by gentlemen, as opposed to soccer, which is quite the opposite, dates back to the Bronze Age, preserves some elements of medieval jousting and, despite codification in the nineteenth century and staggering progress in dental surgery more recently, is definitely nothing for the limp-wristed and the faint-hearted.
I do find a lot of similarities with martial arts, says Marty Davis, Luxembourg's national rugby team coach, alluding not only to the punches you are likely to take, but also to the strictness of the rules, the self-discipline, the respect for the opponent. We have had players with low-level pain thresholds. So it takes all sorts: the tough, the tougher and the really seriously very tough.
Marty, of course, is from New Zealand, where «Saturday is rugby day», where ruggers is uncontested number one for entertainment and where the vital cool box to be looted in the so-called third half is endearingly referred to as the «chilly bin».

On Saturday 25 April, at the Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg will take on Greece in a sizzling RWC 2011 qualifying match for the European Championship of the FIRA-AER Division 3C. Kick-off is at 15:00. Tickets are only 5 euros.
Before that, from 13:00, two ladies' teams will teach the average macho a lesson or two concerning the «weaker sex».
Bring along friends, family, neighbours and always remember: the most injury-prone of the two halves in this convivial and beautiful sport is... the third half. Collision sport

Marty followed his son, scrumming as a pro in France, to Europe. He is the Federation's full-time wage earner and displays a Crocodile Dundee laid-backness about explaining the basics of prolate spheroid (rather than simply egg-shaped) Zen philosophy to the slightly bemused neophyte: Darts is a contact sport, rugby is a collision sport, he says. Rugby is an intelligent game, it's all about contest and continuity. We started a campaign of two-day courses in schools in January, trying to make rugby the sport of choice for fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds. Teachers told us afterwards that the boys were becoming more tolerant and the girls more confident. Good news indeed.
Then comes the quick relief for all those who thought we Luxembourgers were a bunch of sapless bankers and molluscan mustachioed civil servants: The physicality of the Luxembourgers predestines them to rugby, says the coach. Without even the trace of a sneer. he probably means it, too.
So the scouting expedition in schools, where terrain must be occupied for slumbering talents to be harvested, is only at its beginning. Or, as the man from south-east of Down Under puts it: so far we've only done diddly-squat, there is so much left to do.
Our rugby has become so much better since the arrival of Marty Davis, Federation vice-president Bernard Jargeac joins in, full of matter-of-fact praise for the rugby teacher who, slowly, methodically, is raising the national rugby standards above prayer book level.
The wee nation obviously had to climb a steep hill, limping between half and a whole century behind other countries, where the sport has more successfully carved out its niche in the national sporting culture.
Three clubs have emerged: the rugby club of the «Cercle sportif des communautées européennes» and the Rugby Club Luxembourg (RCL), both training at the Stade Boy Konen in Cessange, as well as the «Renerts» Rugby Club Walferdange, whose home turf is the Prince Henri stadium in Walferdange. Where, among others, Luxembourg's most capped player, Arnaud Tribellini, teaches the noble art of man-mowing to six- to fourteen-year-olds. What is needed most, the obvious question goes. And the answer ricochets immediately: additional training grounds, a few of them preferably. With more than 500 people ploughing furrows into Boy Konen's pitiful lawn on a weekly basis, the call for one or two alternative addresses to play at is absolutely legitimate, especially since the rersults keep improving constantly. At the moment, the FLR boasts 74 certified coaches and 7 equally internationally qualified referees. The Luxembourg U18 team won the Group D FIRA-AER Justin Bridou Championship in Toulon, while the U15 already scored wins against teams like Metz (21-5) or Pont-à-Mousson (31-5) in an elite French League competition, and the three senior teams evolve quite successfully in French and Belgian leagues.
Nineteen is the critical age where it becomes most difficult to retain players, busy bee Bernard Jargeac explains, because that's when the boys get their driving licenses, have girlfriends and get served in bars. Jargeac also points out that the federation, talent-scouting as it is, has a lot to offer, from beach rugby events in Walferdange to U13 and veteran tournaments, special training camps for girls, taster days for potential newcomers and the National Rugby Day held on the second weekend in October.
But, to cut an oblong story short, the FLR urgently needs sponsors willing to invest in a durable relationship with a Federation whose elaborate and highly beneficial formation project demands a long-term commitment. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a skilled rugby player.
We have got a structured plan for female rugby, youth rugby, the national team... but we need to have partners who stand by our side for more than one or two events, Bernard Jargeac says with his instantly contagious enthusiasm. If I were you, I would give him a call today on (+352) 621-197.377.