The Toronto Wolfpack played their second-ever home game on Saturday, and a great success it was too. They beat the Barrow Raiders by a huge margin of 70-2.
If you're not even sure what sport I am talking about, you wouldn't be alone. In fact, it's rugby league, not the better known and more mainstream rugby union (although even that is a small, if growing, minority sport here in North America), but its lesser-known and grittier 13-a-side cousin. The Toronto Wolfpack plays in the lowly Kingstone Press League 1, the third tier of English rugby league. It is the first and only transatlantic rugby league team, as well as the only professional team among a league of amateurs and part-timers (or, at best, semi-professionals). I don't know whose idea it was, but strangely it seems to be working.
The team plays at home at the ageing Lamport Stadium in the west end of Toronto, and this weekend's game attracted a raucous, if slightly bewildered crowd of just over 7,000. The team's undisputed star is a 230-pound 37-year-old Tongan who rejoices in the name of Fuifui Moimoi, and who rolls around the pitch crushing all before him. The fans love him, and he clearly loves the fans. All the players seem to love the sport and beer in almost equal measures.
Although this was only the team's second home game, they are now upbeaten at 8-0-0 in the Kingstone Press League 1, and have outscored opponents 482-73. Barrow too was unbeaten before this game, although their team was somewhat depleted as four key players were unable to obtain visas in time for the trip to Toronto.
The Wolfpack are resigned to playing most of their games in small grubby towns in northern England, the heartland of rugby league, but they look all set to gain promotion to the second tier league after this first season. What the English rugby league fraternity thinks of these strange big-city Canadians, I really can't imagine.
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