World Rugby has announced that, starting this April 1st, all drawn matches at full time will now be settled neither by extra time, nor by penalty kicks, but by The Great Sourdough Showdown™, a gut-busting, yeast-rising tiebreaker where players must eat their way to glory.
Here’s How It Works:
At full-time, if the scoreboard is tied when the whistle is blown, the ref will immediately call out the words every professional athlete dreams of hearing: ” On Your Marks, Get Set, Loaf!”
Each team will then line up opposite six rugby ball-shaped sourdough loaves, expertly baked to the exact size and questionable density of an actual match ball. But here’s the kicker: one of these carb-loaded creations contains a single, shiny one-cent coin, baked lovingly right into the center like some medieval feast.
Why a Cent, You Ask?
Because it’s One Cent Day, a totally real, mostly irrelevant holiday nobody asked for but which now comes into play in dictating the outcome of rugby games worldwide. Plus, nothing says “high-stakes athleticism” like elite players gnawing through crusty bread in search of literal spare change.
“We wanted something different that allows players to demonstrate their monster munch” said a World Rugby official while dusting flour off his blazer. “Also, the players were complaining they don’t eat enough carbs mid-match.”
Rules of the Sourdough Showdown:
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Both teams pick their strongest (or hungriest) six players (usually from the forwards)
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Each player is assigned one sourdough rugby ball.
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On the whistle, players devour their loaf as fast as possible.
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First team to find the one-cent coin wins the match.
- Ripping their loaf apart or not eating any part of the loaf properly will result in a 2 minute yellow card.
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Tacking another player’s loaf is an automatic red card — it’s still rugby !
Happy 1st April ! 😛
Photo Credit: Laura Chouette
