Dixon Patch Viewfinder: Dixon Plays Rugby!

If you're a fan of American football, there's a lot to like in the game of rugby. Actually, American football evolved from English rugby, which dates back to the 1700s. 

The movie Invictus with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon chronicled South Africa's win of the rugby world cup. 

Here in Dixon there are active rugby teams. The photos included here are from a junior varsity game with the Granite Bay Grizzlies on March 9. The Grizzles won this game 69-21 but lost the varsity game to Dixon by 31-12.  They played in Hall Park. 

Rugby uses a ball similar to American football, there's tackling and passing (but only to the side or rear), there are upright goalposts, and the "scrum" is similar to a typical play in American football where the opposing teams line up against each other. It can be a rough game, and the only visible protection items worn are mouth guards (which protect teeth) and optional thin headgear, similar to the leather headgear worn during early American football.

Dixon's team has dark shirtsleeves. Junior varsity players are Eric Burton, Emilio Castro Jr., Andrew Dudley, Justin Giardino, Kevyn Hendrix, Parker Long, Christopher Luney, James Nix, Kyle Rotteveel, Fabio and Giuseppe Semeraro, Ben Stark, Samuel Sverlow, Benjamin Tenbrink, Geovany Ventura, Robert Villarreal, Nick Bonovich, Nickolas Lebleu, Valdemar Lee-Lo, Christopher Rico, Kyle Riley, Kraig Roscoe, Jacob Roeser, Nolan Williams, Connor Augustine, Jaeger LaPlante, Marcus Richmond and Scott Waldeck. 

Enjoy the photos.