Rugby is not a gentle sport

Red-125

Steelers: the World's First Gay Rugby Club (2020) is an English documentary written and directed by Eammon Ashton-Atkinson.

Rugby is a very physical game, and the players don't wear protective gear. If you have the stereotype that gay men can't play rugby, think again.

The Steelers are an all-gay team, and they are tough. Director Ashton-Atkinson is a member of the team, but an injury kept him from playing for the Bingham Cup, which is the most important tournament in gay rugby.

We follow, two players--Simon Jones and Andrew McDowell. Most interesting to me was the coach, Nic Evans. She is a former rugby player and a lesbian. However, she encounters misogyny even from the gay men.

The question to be answered is whether the Steelers can win the Bingham Cup. They were the first gay rugby club, and they're an excellent club, but they've never won the Bingham Cup.

We learn at the start of the movie that the Steelers reached out to straight rugby clubs at the beginning. However, they were rebuffed. Now they apparently play only other gay teams.

I learned from Wikipedia (not the movie) that gay clubs do play straight clubs, and that some clubs are "inclusive." Rugby is definitely not my sport, but movies help you learn about matters outside your comfort zone.

We saw this film as part of Rochester's great ImageOut LGBTQ Film Festival. It doesn't yet have enough ratings to be meaningful. I liked it, and rated it 8.

score 8/10

Red-125 31 October 2020

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6220264/