Push and shove, push and shove.

Now, that may not be appropriate behavior in the campus bookstore, theater or cafeteria, but it definitely is appropriate at BYU's Helaman Field.

That's where the BYU rugby teams play their games, where push comes to shove, where head butts and body slams are part of the game plan, where boys will be boys.

The scrum (closeup). BYU is in blue.

The rules of the game are called laws, but they often go unenforced, possibly because the referee doesn't see them when they're gnawing and gnashing one another in the chaos known as a scrum.

A long shot of the chaos known as a scrum.

At first look, BYU is the antithesis of rugby.

Clean cut, polite and respectful versus disheveled, crude and unseemly.

There are other differences, too.

For one, says Cougars coach David Smyth, the team starts each of its games with a prayer.

Then, there's the code of sportsmanship, where BYU ruggers are careful to follow the rules, tackle low and often help a fallen opponent to his feet.

BYU rugby coach Dave Smyth.

And, of course, the post-game party is free of beer and the more flamboyant rugby songs, a tradition as old as the game itself.

“We're seeing a real change, going away from some of the traditions, like drinking and some of those songs,” said Smyth, an Irishman who is in his second term as coach.

“Some college teams still maintain that moronic behavior and some of it is pretty bad, but we're seeing more schools get past this. The better programs take the sport seriously. I'm not sure we will change things totally, but we're making progress. When teams play BYU, they know it's going to be different.”

More colorful opponents try to stay on their best behavior — without conceding anything — and members of a recent opponent team, the Denver Barbarians, expressed their respect for BYU.

An English saying notes that, “Football is a game for gentlemen played by ruffians and rugby is a game for ruffians played by gentlemen.”

Rugby, says assistant coach Kimball Kjar, a former BYU player, “is very much a game of chess, a thinking man's game.”

Assistant rugby coach Kimball Kjar.

“Next to soccer,” says Smyth, “rugby is the second most popular team sport on the world.”

Even the United States, where rugby is mostly an afterthought with the general sports fan, the sport has a rich tradition, and rugby at BYU has a strong history.

Through the years, student-athletes from dozens of countries have attended BYU and played rugby, a number of them winning international and national recognition and the team maintaining a positive win-loss record.

The team's play reflects is outstanding coaching and commitment of both the players and coaching staff.

Despite being plagued by injuries and the likelihood of losing several players for extended periods of time, this year's team opened its season with seven wins in a row, including a season-opening 51-6 victory over Utah Valley State College and a 60-0 victory over the University of Colorado.

BYU has been a USA Rugby Collegiate championship runner-up the past two years, a semifinalist in 2005 and a quarterfinalist in 2004. Its 2007 team had six All-Americans. In addition, several recent players, including Kjar, have played on the U.S. National team.

All that points in one direction: up.

A BYU rugby ball.

Smyth points to the steady arrival of student-athletes and a strong awareness of the sport throughout the state of Utah.

“It's a great sport,” Smyth said. “There is a brotherhood in rugby that few sports can match. You can go almost anywhere in the world and be accepted within the rugby community.”

That camaraderie exists, Smyth said, at every level of the game, from youth league players to international league players.

Smyth, a player in the early 1980s, coached the team from 1991-2002 and returned in 2006.

During Smyth's initial 12-year coaching stint, the Cougars had a 186-12 regular-season won-loss record, and the team has maintained a high level of success.

“Most of our players have played the sport at some level,” Smyth said during a recent visit to Western Colorado. “Quite a few high schools in Utah have rugby programs and, of course, we have strong representation from foreign countries.

“We are treated very well by the athletic department (the team is recognized as an extramural sport) and our games draw very well at Helaman Field. The following on campus is strong.”