The hard-hitting, high-flying, athletic action cherished by so many is back in action this weekend. No, not football – rugby. The N.C. State men’s rugby club will begin its summer play with a tournament this weekend in Wilmington. However, they will be playing a different style of rugby, called rugby sevens.

“Rugby seven happens in the summer because it’s a way to play rugby just to screw around and have a little bit of fun during the summer when we have less players,” captain Phillip Burcal said. “It’s a lot less formal; there are a lot more tournaments and games. It’s just a good time.”

Rugby seven is a variant of the traditional game, called union rugby. In rugby seven, each team is comprised of seven players, rather than the standard fifteen per side in union rugby. Despite the difference in the number of players, the size of the field does not change. However, the length of the game is shortened, from forty minute halves to, ironically, seven minute halves. According to Burcal, this makes the game move much faster and is more entertaining to watch.

Burcal, like many of the other fierce competitors on the rugby team, was a high school football player looking for a way to stay in shape and crack some skulls at the same time. Enticed by the persistence of one of the team members, Burcal opted to try the sport that has been popular and prevalent overseas for quite some time.

“Rugby kind of came to me as I was walking through the brickyard during club sports day,” Burcal said. “I didn’t actually go into the brickyard with rugby in mind. I went to look at some other clubs. And on the way out I saw rugby, and I played football in high school so I thought I might need something to replace to football in terms of the physicality. So I decided to inquire into it.”

Burcal, as well as the rest of the team, is looking forward to upcoming tournaments in Wilmington and Asheville throughout the month of July. Despite the limited number of players, the rugby team will have more than enough participants for their tournaments.

“Some stay for summer school and some are not in Raleigh at all over the summer so we don’t really hold practice,” Burcal said. “But we do still get about 15 guys together for each sevens tournament we have. So it’s a lot of fun.”