Turbulent Times and Rugby Scrums

The 1960’s and 1970’s were considered “turbulent” times for Americans.  The Vietnam War was in full swing which generated political and social uproar and brought about the “hippie” movement.  The Civil Rights Movement was at center stage, which brought controversy to the country, and citizens were generally not content with where they stood in society.  The college scene was affected by these happenings, as the attitude across campuses could be characterized by a single word: “unrest.” According to Timothy Chandler in his book, Making The Rugby World, one result of the unrest that students felt across the country during the 1960’s was a dramatic increase in rugby interest throughout America:  the greatest period of growth in American rugby ever (Chandler & Nauright, 1999, p. 52).

“…as student unrest began to gather momentum on campuses across the country…athletes began to resist the highly-regimented behavior which was required of them; they disliked the autocratic coaching styles of their coaches; they wanted greater freedom of expression, but found that, even in simple things such as hair length, they were limited by a coach’s authority…Playing rugby meant that they did not have to submit themselves to the control of a coach and an institution, because rugby was only a student-controlled club sport and not an administration-controlled intercollegiate sport” (Chandler & Nauright,1999, p. 53).  An article written following the victory over The University of Texas in the Trinity Newspaper reflects some of the attitudes that Chandler was referring to:  “Two Tiger gridmen enjoyed the freedom found in playing rugby.  Linebacker Tommy Chenault said that rugby is not as rough as football.  Chenault said the game is fun because the runner has plenty of freedom to run or throw the ball where he wants to” (Corbitt, 1968).