Rugby + Politics

You might have already seen this; it's been circling around the web: a photo from the 1969 Yale yearbook of George W. Bush punching somebody in the face in a rugby match. Now, I'm a Kerry supporter (duh), but I think we should lay off the president on this one. The picture gives no indication of whether Bush was initiating or responding to foul play; if it was the latter, any of my teammates would do the same in a heartbeat.

That was an example of rugby bleeding over into politics. Here's an example of politics bleeding over into rugby: Eddie Jones, the Australian coach, has accused Jake White, his South African counterpart, of launching a "smear campaign" against Australia. It turns out that George Gregan lied and cheated to get his three purple hearts, silver star, and bronze star, and that he never actually pulled Stephen Larkham back onto the swift boat.