Viewfinder: Bryn Mawr College Rugby

Rugby has its origins in 18th Century England when the Rugby (a town) School allowed the ball in a football (soccer) game to be handled at some times as long as no one ran with the ball in their hands. In the mid 1800s running with the ball was introduced, and the sport of Rugby was born.

In today's rugby, ground can be gained by running or kicking the ball forward. Forward passing the ball, as in American football, is not allowed. A rugby ball is more egg shaped than an American football, and not aerodynamically designed for passing, although it can be tossed in a rugby match as long as it is not a forward pass.

Unlike American football, players do not wear pads or helmets so tacking can produce injuries. Rugby is rugged. Women's rugby is a quickly growing sport with nearly 25 percent of all rugby players being women. Often the women are members of a collegiate soccer club. That differs from a team based upon intercollegiate rules and games, but rugby is moving in the direction of being sanctioned as a collegiate team sport in years to come.

There are 15 players on each side in a rugby game, which has two 40-minute halves. All players run, pass, catch and kick the ball as well as play offense and defense. There are five ways to score:

Try: 5 points for touching the ball down in the other team's goal area,

Conversion: 2 points for kicking the ball through the goal posts after a try,

Penalty kick: 3 points for a successful kick,

Drop goal: 3 points for a successful kick taken anywhere on the field during play.

Since many people have never seen a rugby game, we visited on Saturday to photograph the Bryn Mawr Women's Rugby Club play the Ursinus College Club. The Bryn Mawr club also has members on it who matriculate at nearby Haverford College. The game was won by Ursinus 12-0.

In the gallery, Bryn Mawr is dressed in green and black rugby shirts.