Why dwell on the topic so much when there is so much else to discuss? Well, over this site’s history, these are the top ten search engine keywords that have taken readers here:

Also, the most-visited page on this site, other than the main page, is an article (now outdated) from 2008 about free access to rugby union matches.

We get it. There are a few people out there who want to see rugby union free of charge on the Internet.

If you’re of a similar mind, there’s good news. Life University Rugby announced this week that starting tomorrow, all of its home matches will be broadcast online.

To watch the first broadcast, go to the club’s video site at 2:00 p.m. EAstern U.S. time tomorrow (Saturday, 15 April) and watch Life’s Rugby Super League quarterfinal match against the Chicago Griffins. Be sure to visit a bit early, though, because the site requires you to create a free account to have a look.

Let us know what you think, but remember: beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to free rugby union broadcasts in the United States, so don’t be too picky about the format or the quality. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at the home side:

This year, the Division I, II, and III playoff formats were all arranged such that in each division, 16 clubs played in Eastern and Western regional brackets with two teams from each region advancing to the semifinals. This meant that each semifinal match at level of play featured an Eastern Side versus a Western side. In those semifinal matches, played today, not a single side from the East survived. Six semifinal matches, all won by the Western representatives.

That mean that not only will all of these competitions be won by a Western side, but an Eastern side won’t even appear in the final at any of these levels.

Although other American competitions used different playoff formats, they also point toward Western dominance. The Collegiate Men’s Division I championship match last month featured a pair of Western sides, as did the Boy’s High School and Under-19 age-grade competitions from two weeks ago.

Tonight’s Rugby Super League final and last month’s Girl’s Under-19 final were also won by Western sides, though the runners-up were from the Eastern side of the country in both cases. The 2009 Women’s Club final has yet to be played, but a Western side bested an Eastern side in the 2008 tournament. The only exceptions to this pattern of Western dominance are the Women’s Collegiate Division I and II tournaments and the Men’s Collegiate Division II tournament, which were all won by Eastern sides in May.

Of twelve national champs, then, that means nine are from the West. Again, perhaps just as telling is that more than half of those championships didn’t even feature an Eastern side in the final. More Western dominance next year? We’ll see …

• The sides were locked at twenty-six points apiece after regulation, so two ten-minute extra periods were played.
• With the draw unbroken after extra time, the number of tries scored in the match was the next tiebreaker. This was moot, however, as each side had scored two tries during the match.
• each side nominated five kickers to attempt one placekick at goal each from the 22-meter line in front of the posts.
• After each side made four goals, the kicking competition went into “sudden-death” mode (wherein the first side to miss a goal loses, so long as the other side made a goal in the same round) with a new set of kickers. In the third round of this segment, Cardiff flanker Martyn Williams pushed an attempt wide to end the marathon and send Leicester into the final to be played in a couple of weeks.

The format was unpopular with many given that it forced players specializing in things other than goalkicking to do as much with the match at stake, but it was still exciting. Aside from the tense finish, the match also served to answer a few fans’ curiosity regarding how a tie is resolved in a knockout match after extra time.

Or did it? Actually, even though the format seen last weekend is used in the Heineken Cup, the format will be reconsidered next year. Further, other competitions don’t do it the same way, so seeing the shoot-out last weekend actually tells very little about how the matter is settled throughout the sport.

If you’ve read this far, we assume you’re interested in hearing how all of the competitions settle a draw in playoff situations where a winner must be determined, so here’s a partial list of competitions and their tiebreaking methods:

• The Guinness Premiership (England’s top domestic competition) has a similar format as the Heineken Cup, but the kicks vary in placement by round with some in front of the posts, some 15 meters from the left and right touch lines, and some 5 meters from each touch line.
• In the Super 14 (featuring top sides from New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa), two formats are used, on for the semifinals and one for the finals. In the semis, the sides play two ten-minute extra time periods, after which the deadlock is broken by number of tries scored in the semifinal. After that, though, the similarities with the Heineken Cup and Guiness Premiership end, as the winner is decided by who finished higher during the regular season. The final works the same for the most part, except that the championship is shared as a draw after two periods of extra time if the scored are still level.
• The Magners League (featuring top sides from Ireland, Wales, and Scotland) doesn’t have to deal with the issue, as they don’t have knockout matches and determine their winner after the regular schedule. This year, in fact, Munster clinched the title two matches left to play
• We couldn’t find a clear statement of the American Super League’s format, but we know from the 2008 final that “sudden-death” extra time is played after two extra time periods until one side scores to win.
• The tiebreaker methods used in the Top 14 (France’s top domestic competion) and Super 10 (Italy’s top domestic competition) elude Armchair Playmaker’s limited translation resources. Readers who are more adept at French and Italian are encouraged to chime in!

How do they handle it in rugby league? We’ll spare you the details, but note that for most competitions a “golden point” sudden-death period is either played after 80 minutes (as is done in the National Rugby League in every match) or after two short two extra time periods. The golden point seems to work pretty well–in fact, Leicester seems to support the idea after suffering through the alternative.

Hopefully, that satisfies your curiosity about how a draw is avoided when a draw will not do. Meanwhile, here are a few views of last weekend’s historic moment:

Here’s how the cameras caught it:

And here’s how it looked from at least one spot in the crowd:

We’re not sure it’s fair to focus on a missed goal from a player of Martyn Williams’ stature, especially considering that he probably never expected to be kicking at goal that day, so we’ll end here with a cheerier moment from early in Williams’ standout career (this one from more than a decade ago, before he ever donned a Cardiff shirt):

The endless scrum, motley jersey, kneepads, running shoes, and coaching on how to kick opposing players are classic, though the big mystery comes at the end in the coffee shop when one wonders: How did poor Ross’ jersey get slashed up? Has someone got a straight razor out there? I don’t think anyone would want to play a game like that.

From the West:

• Women’s Club: Berkeley All Blues (Berkeley, California)
• Men’s Collegiate Division I: University of California-Berkeley (Berkeley, California)
• Women’s Collegiate Division I: Stanford (Palo Alto, California)
• Boy’s U-19: Highland (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Boy’s High School: Jesuit of Sacramento (Sacramento, California)
• Men’s Division II: Red Mountain (Phoenix, Arizona, area)
• Men’s Club Division III: Reno (Reno, Nevada)

From the East:

• Rugby Super League: New York Athletic Club (New York, New York)
• Men’s Club Division I: Life University (Marietta, Georgia)
• Girl’s U-19: Divine Savior (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• Men’s Collegiate Division II: Radford University (Radford, Virginia)
• Women’s Collegiate Division II: Shippensburg University (Shippensberg, Pennsylvania)

That’s seven championships in the West and five in the East, though two of each region’s championships are lower division titles (Men’s Club Division II and III in the West, and Collegiate Division II Men’s and Women’s in the East). Also the Women’s Club champions listed are from 2007, as that competition doesn’t end until November.

Remember, though, that the top side in the top comp (NYAC in the Rugby Super League) is an East Coast side.

New York Athletic Club had 2007 champs Belmont Shore on the run 17-6 at one point in the first half and 25-11 midway through the second, but Shore battled back to tie the score at 25 all with a converted try at the death. In the two ten-minute extra time periods, it was NYAC’s turn to pull a comeback, as a penalty at the end of extra time leveled the scores again at 28. It had to end at some point, and in the sudden-death extra period NYAC hit a long penalty goal to win it. What a match.

Fortunately, it was televised live on ESPN Classic and also shown online on the USA Rugby Network. If you missed it, you should be able to catch the replay online on the USA Rugby Network or Infinity Park’s streaming video service soon. If you’ve never watched a U.S. domestic match, this one will be worth your time.

If you want to see more television and Internet access to rugby union in the United States, you ought to be sure to watch. It shows show your interest to broadcasters and advertisers and increases the chance that there will be more to see in the future.