You try taking this down. (Source)

Gerard Butler did it. 007 did it too—both Sean Connery and Daniel Craig. The Rock had his crack at it. Russell Crowe not only played it, but is also co-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Gérard Depardieu played for France and is VP of the Bordeaux-Begle club, and Frankenstein's monster himself, Boris Karloff, founded the Southern California branch that's still active today. 

Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush played it during their college years; even the late Pope John Paul got in on the action (source). 

We're talking rugby, mate—er, fella, or whatever they say in jolly old England. That's where this sport originated way back in 1823, thanks to William Webb Ellis at The Rugby School (hence the name; it has nothing at all to do with rugs being beaten). It's a professional sport for which you can earn from $65,000 to over a million per year if you play abroad, or absolutely nothing if you play at home.

 

Still technically less dangerous than Quidditch, but not by much. (Source)

So what exactly is rugby anyway? Is it like water polo without the water? Or maybe like soccer without all that tiresome kicking? Is it just like American football, but different? Or is it like Quidditch, just without the flying broomsticks?

Um, yeah—all of the above. Kinda.

In rugby, two teams of fifteen players each face off against each other and try to score the most points with a ball. Okay, that's simple enough; we can get behind that.

Then add all of the weird, interesting rules in rugby, like no forward pass, that bizarre scrum thing, and dropkicking a field goal after you just ran twenty meters, and you've got yourself a game.

But the real question—can you make money playing it?

The answer is yes—just not in America. Are you kidding? There's not even a pro rugby league in the USA. The most you can hope for is winning one of those big trophy cups and selling it for about ten bucks on Craigslist.

Seriously, there's no money here in the USA for rugby stars, no matter how good you are at it. If you want a career in rugby, you'll have to move to England, Australia, or France, where you can compete with a whole country full of experts raised on rugby, who dream of making a pro team like some kids dream of the NBA or NFL.

Rugby has the distinction of being one of the only sports that's actually been an Olympic sport—until it wasn't again. Back in 1920 and 1924, when players from Cal and Stanford dominated the games, rugby had its moment on the international stage. But it was short-lived; its Olympic status was revoked in 1925 by Count Baillet-Latour, Olympic President and hardcore rugby hater (source). 

The Olympics have realized the huge mistake they made all those years ago, and welcomed Rugby back in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. See that, baseball? You might get your day in the sun again (source). 

This is a real sport with real potential to really explode in popularity over the coming years. Men aren't the only ones who play it either—women have a league of their own.

Maybe someday it'll be popular in the United States, but due to its similarity to American football, don't count on that happening anytime soon. If making money at this is part of your dream, get those bags packed and that passport ready because you're going abroad.

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