Not for the Faint of Heart : Rugby Abounds in Wild Contradictions

Tony Spinella is the kind of guy who mothers hope their sons grow up to be.

He is painfully polite and talks in the soft tones reserved for libraries and churches. He is intelligent, with degrees in mathematics and chemistry.

But when the topic turns to his obsession, rugby, a wicked grin surfaces.

He begins talking about bruises, scrapes, bone-jarring tackles and free-for-all scrambles. He remembers with delight the pleasure he used to get after giving his opposite number a good lick.

Spinella, 47, is the organizer for the Eagle Rock Sevens rugby tournament, an annual competition that has drawn 24 teams from around the world.

The tournament is divided into three divisions of differing skill levels. Games will be played from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at John Ferraro Athletic Field.

Rugby is a sport of contradictions. Though brutal, it absolutely does not accept unsportsmanlike play.

The competition is cutthroat but enjoys a strong camaraderie among team members as well as opponents.

And probably no one illustrates this better than Spinella, whose demeanor belies the violence of the sport he loves.

“It’s a ruffians’ game played by gentlemen,” said Spinella, whose serious playing days ended in 1979 after his second knee injury. “It’s a melting pot.”

Myriad people from wide-ranging backgrounds show up to play. Doctors, lawyers, students, businessmen, part-time actors, engineers, rocket scientists . . . the list goes on. Spinella is an environmental chemist.

“You meet a whole group of people,” said Kevin Easton, a member of the Eagle Rock Athletic Club’s rugby team. “It’s nice that we all share the same enthusiasm and regard for the game.”

Still, it is a physically punishing sport. There are no timeouts and there is just a five-minute rest between 40-minute halves. There are no huddles, water breaks or TV timeouts.

“This sport has the contact of football, the running of basketball and soccer,” Spinella said. “The only way you come off the field is if you get carried off.”

Much like football, the objective is to advance the ball across the opposing team’s goal line and touch it down for a four-point “try,” rugby’s version of a touchdown.

The ball can only be passed backward or laterally on the field of play, which is 100 meters by 70 meters.

Meanwhile, the opposing team tries to stop forward progress by tackling the player with the ball. Blocking is not allowed.

Traditional rugby is played with 15 players a side or team. During the summer, however, it is played with seven a side.

With fewer players on the field, “sevens” is the showtime of rugby, emphasizing speed and finesse rather than strength.

“It’s really rough in there,” said Kevin Meyer, an ERAC team member. “You can bite, scratch, anything goes.”

Spinella saw his first rugby match when he was with the Air Force and stationed in British Columbia, Canada, in 1969.

Discharged the following year, he went to the University of Denver, where he planned to play football as a 6-foot, 210-pound lineman. The school, however, dropped the program.

One day Spinella was playing touch football--against members of the rugby team, and was asked to join them for their next rugby game.

“They said if you see the ball, just pick it up and run with it,” Spinella said. “All I knew was there was no blocking and no forward passing.”

The first time the ball squirted Spinella’s way, a lineman’s fantasy was played out when he picked it up and ran for a try.

“I picked up a rugby ball and immediately I knew what to do with it,” he said. “There were no questions, no second-guessing at what to do.”

Spinella has since been involved in the sport as a player, coach or administrator wherever his work has taken him.

He has coached at Colorado State, UC Santa Barbara and UCLA. He also was president of the Southern California Rugby Football Union for four years and coached the ERAC’s team for six years.

He still stays involved with the game whenever possible, organizing tournaments and helping promote the sport in the area.

“Being involved now gives the players a chance to enjoy the game a little longer,” Spinella said. “That’s really why all of us stick around.”

Most ruggers get involved with the sport after being invited to participate by a friend.

“I was a spectator for a while and watched my brother-in-law play,” Meyer said. “They kept on trying to get me to play. I kept on putting them off--in other words, I dogged them for a while.”

Meyer eventually gave in and has found that rugby was much tougher than football, which he played while at Burbank High.

“Rugby is a lot tougher to play,” he said. “You have to be a lot more conditioned. . . . You don’t see 270-pound guys playing rugby because you’ve got to be fit.”

The sport has also provided a social outlet for people who would otherwise stay in a 9-to-5 rut.

Family members, girlfriends and friends all gather for a postgame “social” that the home team hosts for the visitors.

“It’s very family oriented,” said Brenda, Spinella’s wife.

“We have the wives, the girlfriends come out. Over the past four years I’ve been involved in this, I’ve seen marriages and children come out of this.”

Everyone is welcomed to just watch or play, without regard to size or athletic ability.

“Everybody’s welcome,” Spinella said. “You might be great, you might not. There’s a level of play for everybody.”

What’s Afield?

* What: 13th annual Eagle Rock 7s Rugby Championship.

* When: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

* Cost: Free.

* Where: John Ferraro Athletic Fields, north of the Los Angeles Zoo where Highway 134 meets I-5. Take zoo exits.

* Information: 818-784-2963.