'It is a penalty play for passing the ball forward in a rugby game,' sophomore and exercise management major, Janna Gribowicz explains. 'You are always supposed to pass backwards.'

Gribowicz is part of this year's women's rugby club team, who will kick off their season, both literally and figuratively, this weekend against their toughest rival from last year, Miami University, at Miami University.

But a scrum is not the only play in rugby. Rugby is a fast-paced game known for its intense action and continuous play. There are fifteen girls who play on each side'eight girls as forwards, and seven as backs.

Points can be scored through two plays, a 'try' and a 'goal.' In a try, a player must successfully run the ball into the opponent's in-goal and touch the ball to the ground. After a successful try, the team can score two more points with a conversion.

A goal is scored when a player kicks the ball over the opponent's crossbars and through the opponent's goal posts from any place in the field-of-play. However, the ball cannot touch another player on the kicker's team or the ground first before the kick.

All players play both defense and offense and everyone can kick, run, pass, and tackle. This challenging sport combines both the high speeds of soccer and the tackling of football to create a unique and fun-filled game.

The UD women's rugby club is a fairly new organization, formed only about a decade ago. Many of the girls on the team did not play rugby before coming to college, but this year's coach, Brian Colson, does have several years of rugby coaching experience.

He coached last year's team to a 7-1 season and the team's only lose was against the powerhouse Purdue. The team also participated in the Nash Bash tournament in Nashville, Tennessee in the spring of 2006 and they went 3-1. They also won the annual Presidents Cup which is held at Wright State University, a title they have claimed the past several years.

Although she is recuperating from a torn ACL from last season's Nash Bash, junior and president of this year's rugby team, Jessica DiRusso, is looking forward to this season. The team expects big things from returning senior Kelly Stachler who plays hooker and flanker and in DiRusso's words, 'is not one to be reckoned with.'

Another all-star is junior, Maureen Schubert, who is an exception in this sport, having played rugby in high school. She brings not only her talent and knowledge of the game but also years of experience to the field.

The team is also counting on the other returning players and on a number of younger, new players since the team lost seven seniors this past spring.

'I feel like this season is going to be a definite rebuilding year,' DiRusso said. 'We are looking to our younger players to step it up and show some leadership and talent.'

The team anticipates that Miami University, their season opening game this weekend, will be one of their toughest opponents all year. The University of

Kentucky's team also comes out strong every year as well and has had lots of talent in past years.

The team plays its home games at Carillon Park in Dayton. Upcoming home games will take place Saturday, Sept. 30 against Ohio University and Saturday, Oct. 21 against the University of Kentucky.

The team would like to remind everyone it is never too late to sign-up and the team is always looking for more players. Anyone interested can contact Jessica DiRusso at dirussjm@notes.udayton.edu.