Teams from Fiji New Zealand
and South Africa rely on players
who have been competing from
an age when most American kids
are still striking out in T-ball.
Isles took up the game just
four years ago and as recently
as 2013 Baker was still play-
ing wide receiver for the now-
defunct arena-football team
Pittsburgh Power. The transi-
tion has resulted in some hilari-
ous and terrifying moments
like the time Baker laid out an
opposing player. âI tackled like
footballâ Baker says. âI just ran
through and chopped the guyâs
leg out from under him. Every-
onewentcrazy.âHewasnearly
run out of the stadium on a rail
while his teammates explained
that he didnât know the rules.
Baker spent four years playing
small-college ball and his fam-
ily includes two NFL players. But
Baker never made it to the NFL.
When he gave up arena ball for
rugby his family thought he had
lost his mind. âIn the beginning
it was like âBoy you donât know
what youâre doingâ â says Baker.
But rugby which until
recently was def ined in the U.S.
by the kegs stacked along the
sidelines is f inally starting to
pick up a legitimate following.
Sevens leagues are sprouting up
around the country with kids
playing touch ball and colleges
launching leagues for both men
and women. The Collegiate
Rugby Championship in Phila-
delphia attracts tens of thou-
sands of fans and airs on NBC.
Still the Eaglesâ practice ismore rudimentary than what
youâd see at world champion
Fijiâs workout. The American
team scrimmages and a pass
from Baker f lies out of bounds
as he tries to hit a teammate who
isnât there.
Brown calls the guys together
and says âWe need to work on our
comms and keep our passes f lat.
The effort is there â just need
the concentration.â Translation:
âWeâre trying hard but our com-
munication is shit and our passes
are like knuckling watermelons.â
But after some repetitive
drills the team starts to gel.
Baker takes a pass and runs by
a defender as if he were a plastic
toy soldier. As he streaks down
the sideline you can hear him
whispering âGo go go.â
âGood job Old Spiceâ shouts
Zack Test a player with a rugby
nose pointing in multiple direc-
tions.Andforamomentyou
think that while the Eagles
might notbetheMichaelPhelps
of the Rio games they will be a
team to watch. They may even
bring home a medal and force us
to start taking rugby seriously.MOST NATIONAL RUGBY teams
come from homogenous socie-
ties. Team Fiji pulls from a
country of just 900000 people
and the bulk of a British team
might come from f ive or six pub-
lic schools. And if thereâs truth to
the old British line that the Bat-
tle of Waterloo was decided on
the playing f ields of Eton then
it was early forms of rugby that
brought down Napoléon.But this is America and the
Eagles are a discordant stew of
Polynesian-Americans British
expatriates California bros and
urban kids who once dreamed of
being the next Carl Lewis.
In England says coach Mike
Friday himself a Brit there were
two types of players private-
school and public-school kids
but they played the same. âYou
put them on a rugby pitch and
theyâre both rugby playersâ
Friday told a rugby website last
year. âHere you have a kid on a
food ration and a middle-class
kid who thinks heâs going to
get dessert every night. You put
them on the rugby pitch and you
know which one is which.â
Isles was the one who didnât
get a meal much less dessert.
He and his twin sister were
orphans and until the age of
eight they ate what they could
to survive in various group
homes in Ohio. He didnât learn
to read or write until late but
he went on to attend Ashland
University to run track. Islesâ
100-meter time would have
qualif ied him for the 2012 Lon-
don Olympics if he were from
any country other than the U.S.
But as it was he fell behind doz-
ens of other runners. He discov-
ered rugby sevens on YouTube
and thought âWhat if I became
the fastest rugby player in the
world? Maybe that will fulf ill
my Olympic dream.â
He was living in Austin when
he emailed the CEO of the Amer-
ican team. He asked to try out
despite being a 145-pound waiftorn ears move in unison like
some kind of mutating amoeba.
(The U.S. won gold in this ver-
sion of the sport in the 1924
Olympics the last time it was
played.) Thatâs not rugby sev-
ens. Sevens is played on a patch
of grass roughly the size of an
American football field but with
only seven per side. Itâs a bit like
hockey when players are removed
in overtime and the ice opens up.
As with American football
sevens teams aim for seven
points per possession: five for
crossing the goal line (they call
that a try) and two for the conver-
sion (which is similar to an extra
point). Play pauses when youâre
tackled but you can hike it back
to your own teammate in some-
thing known as a ruck. Since
there are just two seven-minute
halves a complete game includ-
ing halftime is played in less time
than an episode ofArcher.
The one advantage the Ameri-
cans have is speed. Guys like Car-
lin Isles and Perry Baker whose
nickname is Speed Stick (though
his teammates also call him by
lesser deodorant variations)
are as fast as Division 1 sprint-
ers but they lack experience.SIX OF THE SEVENS
Nate Ebner
Rugby years:21.
Age:27. Was
youngest seven ever
at 17; drafted by
Patriots in 2012; part
of the Super Bowl
win in 2015.Madison Hughes
Rugby years:16.
Age:23. Became
team captain as
youngest member;
was the first junior
in Dartmouth rugby
to make captain.Carlin Isles
Rugby years:4.
Age:26. Ran a
100-meter dash in
10.13 seconds in 2012;
played briefly for
the NFL Lions in 2013
as a wide receiver.Danny Barrett
Rugby years:12.
Age: 26. Scored
a try against
Canada in the
America Rugby
Championship
in 2013.Zack Test
Rugby years: 12.
Age:26. Leads in
number of tries
scored for all active
U.S. players; played
wide receiver at the
University of Oregon.Perry Baker
Rugby years:3.
Age: 30. Signed by
the Philadelphia
Eagles in 2011 as a
wide receiver but
was dropped due to
a torn meniscus.The Rio-bound Eagles include lifelong ruggers
former elite sprinters and a Super Bowl winner.SUMMER
OLYMPICS
12 REASONS
TO CARECARLIN ISLES: HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES