OFF/BEAT

Austrian Rugby Team Celebrates Defeat With Full Monty

Everyone handles defeat differently. Some people sulk, some brood, some train harder. And some, as in the case of the Austrian National Rugby Team, streak.

After an embarrassing 48-0 shellacking at the hands of Lithuania, the 20 member squad descended in "good spirits" on the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, and performed a musical striptease. As observers cheered, the men danced on downtown steps as a "coach" led them in a drunken rendition of "Singing in the Rain".

But as is apt to happen these days, once the players began taking it off, the audience began whipping out their cameras. The footage was soon posted to a VIRB blog and YouTube, then promptly removed from both because of nudity. Undeterred, Lithuanian news site Delfi picked it up, posting the full and extremely uncensored video online for all to see. So far, there have been 1,613 comments expressing varying levels of outrage.

Lithuanian rugby federation President Aleksandras Makarenka confirmed to Reuters that the men pictured were indeed the Austrian team. "Yes, these were the men we played against on Saturday ... I guess the defeat could have prompted them to do that." Delfi quotes the Vilnius police chief as saying that stripping in public could be considered an act of hooliganism. The Austrian squad has since skipped the country.

Nudity and sports have a long and checkered history. Just last week, a group of high school lacrosse players in Michigan were suspended for asking a girl to prom by spelling the invitation on their backsides. Last month, the captain of the Penguins minor league hockey team was arrested for streaking around Scranton.

To make matters worse, the Baltic states have recently become a somewhat unwilling hot spot for Western European stag parties. Not surprisingly, locals aren't happy about their capital cities being transformed into frat houses.

Given past international incidents, should the Austrian team be punished for its full monty? Or was the nudity all in good fun? Let me know your thoughts.

ALSO IN OFF/BEAT
COMMENTS (3)

  • So why isn't this a crime against humanity?

    By David , Posted May 9, 2008 9:54 PM

  • Excited to hear about the move, Emil! Will offbeat be any different? Let us know.

    By Paul, PA , Posted May 10, 2008 4:20 PM

  • Can you say international incident! How fortunate for Lithuanian that they got so much positive exposure. My concern is that children will see this and think rugby is all about nudity and totally miss what lies at the heart of the game, binge drinking.

    By Paul, PA , Posted May 10, 2008 4:52 PM
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