You may already be sea sick after hearing all the water sports and recreation available in Rhodes. Do not fret. There is still hope—rugby. Yes, there is one kind of sports in the island that do not include water in any form. Well, except maybe the drinking water.

First, what is rugby anyway? Rugby football started making history in1823. According to the legend, it all began when a young fellow, William Webb Ellis did not pay attention to the conventional rules while they were playing the school's version of football. He caught the ball, and run with it, which is not how it was supposed to be.

After an investigation done by the Old Rugbian Society in 1895, the sport, then known as rugby football, was granted the School's seal of approval . Actually, there is now a trophy for the Rugby Union World Cup that carries the name of Webb Ellis, which was made to honor him. There is a plaques, as well, in the School to remember the achievement.

There was nothing official about the rules of the game by that time. Before a match, a set of rules would be agreed between the two opposing teams. If these two teams play regularly against each other, it is most likely that they will play by the same rules. It was until 1845 when the first set of rules of the sports was written. A Rugby-based boot and shoemaker, Richard Lindon, invented the rubber bladder and its brass hand pump. Through this, the oval shape of the ball used in rugby was standardized.

Okay, enough about history. How does one get a score in this game? According to the rules, it is either through a try or a goal. A try is touching the ball to the ground over the goal line at the opponent's end of the field. A goal, on the other hand, is kicking the ball over the crossbar between the upright goal posts. So basically, you just have to bring the ball, either through kicking or grounding, to a certain part of the field.

Since rugby has become the “new football”, it also has its own world cup. Participating teams are from Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, France, Italy, Romania, Georgia, Portugal, and so on. Although Greece has not yet join the prestigious world cup, it is now holding a rugby competition throughout its islands starting 2006. There are 8 teams all in all—Athens, Spartakos, Attica, Iraklis, Spartans, Mecedones, Trikala, and of course, Rhodes. Rodos Rugby Colossi placed second in the Greek rugby championship statistics posted last December 2007 with Athens as the leading team.

The Rhodes rugby team, the Colossi, was handpicked and trained by Anestis Karageorgiou. The newest addition to Colossi are Pantelis Arfaras and Markos Anthony; they started in the team last August 2007. About one-third of the Greek team is from Colossi and the national Greek team has already played in seven tournaments in Croatia and Georgia.

Rugby may not be the national sport of Greece nor in Rhodes but many have become avid fans of the sports since a national competition was organized. It may not include crystalline waters or golden sands, even a picturesque scene but it has the same ingredient that everyone is looking for in a recreation—fun.