Being brought up on rugby, one of the first things I noticed on arriving in Germany was that there just aren't rugby clubs here. In my entire time travelling around Germany, I have seen one...in Hannover. I even taught a lesson on rugby when I was a teaching assistant in Oldenburg.
This week, rugby has reared its head again in my classroom as I decided to show my adult class the film 'Invictus' in our last session in February. We often discuss politics anyway, although South Africa has never come up, so I know they'll push themselves to discuss that but I thought it was also nice to put a bit of an English spin on it with the rugby side of things.
So this week, I told them what we would be watching and asked them what they already knew. Hmmm...
"It's not a sport for gentlemen"
"It's rough"
...
That was it! So I filled them in a little in that there are two types, the basic scoring system and the no forward passing rule. They understand offside because of football (which is good because I'm still not sure that I have it down). I told them, yes it is rough and you would never catch me playing but it is something of a gentlemen's sport because despite the behaviour on the pitch, all the players and supporters generally have a drink and a chat afterwards and there's not the same kind of aggression you find among football fans!
So, after not seeing a rugby game in over eighteen months, I'm quite looking forward to film night!
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