Katie Holland: Chaos, cuties and scoring at the wrong end of the field

CUTENESS ALERT: Even All Blacks have to start somewhere. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

AS YOU read this, children in oversized clothing and with serious faces are scoring tries at the wrong end of the field all over Rotorua, as parents frantically yell and wave their arms about.

It's Rippa rugby for under-6s and is possibly the most chaotic, cute and hilarious thing I have seen all year. It was a whole new world, as I took to the sidelines at Ray Boord Park last weekend to cheer on some young friends.

Rounding them all up beforehand to even get on the field looked a mission in itself.

Then came the opening whistle and the child with the ball ran smack into his teammate's face. Oops.

From there, the chaos was nonstop. Kids tearing off sideways and "scoring tries" on the sideline was a common occurrence; kids with too-big pants falling around their ankles as they tried to hold the ball and their dignity; kids wandering off mid-match or dreamily staring at the clouds, oblivious to the action unfolding around them.

But 5-year-olds are not stupid. Faced with a line of defenders between them and the try line, the logical thing is to turn around and go the other way. It's a clear sprint to the line.

In my wee friends' 40-minute match, there must have been at least three "own tries". I think to this day the "try scorers" still think they scored the try of the match - and all those yelling, pointing parents were just cheering them on. Bless.

Halftime, and they were straight into the oranges with a gusto I had never seen for fruit.

Running in circles for 20 minutes (well, probably 10 minutes, once rounding up and organisation time is taken into account) sure builds an appetite for citrus.

Every now and then one of the kids would actually look as if he knew what he was doing, and it would for a fleeting moment resemble rugby - such as when a star player in the opposition, a little girl with a fierce and slightly terrifying competitiveness, made a stunning run upfield, sidestepping and swerving, leaving defenders in her wake to score an actual try, at the right end of the field. It was impressive, surely a Black Fern in the making.

But then it was back to the chaos. Looking around, it was unfolding the same way on every field - kids running in the wrong direction with patient dads physically picking them up and plopping them where they were meant to be and mums calling encouragement from the sidelines.

One mum was videoing the action on her iPad for, she explained, the team's "strategy" session during the week. "I'm not even kidding," she said.

I am no rugby expert but I reckon the team's main strategy this week should be going the right way. That, and working on their post-orange eating strategy - there were skins discarded all over the ground for the poor "mumager" to pick up.

You hear stories about pushy and abusive parents on the sidelines of kids' sport but I saw none of that. There was too much laughter and hilarity at the antics, and plenty of encouragement for all, even, or perhaps especially, for those who, even at 5, seem destined to excel in fields other than sport.

Maybe that changes as the kids get older, and the stakes start getting higher, but for those littlies and their families on the sideline it was all about the fun, being active, being part of a team and, of course, the oranges. Fair warmed the heart, it did.

As some rugby player somewhere once said, full credit to the refs, the coaches, managers and supporters on the sidelines of all our fields and courts today - you're doing a great job. Enjoy the chaos.