As someone who played a bit in high school: it’s basically competitive drowning. As in, you’re treading water with only your legs because ball/passing/blocking, and you get in a scrum, and you basically try to drown the other guy while he tries to drown you. It’s pretty crazy, and if you understand what’s going on, it’s kinda wild to watch, especially at the professional/olympic level. It can get pretty spicy.

And then there was the time the match wasn’t really about the match.